Crimson Clouds
Summery: Sora and Cloud Strife are in trouble when a familiar and dangerous man resets his sights on Cloud. Their good, but some what shady, friend Reno helps them again but this causes the man to get even more dangerous as he goes after Reno. C/L S/Ri Ro/A onesided Se/C, Runo(Reno/Rufus), De/Zex.
A/N: Well, I have finally reached the fourth chapter of CC and boy is that a surprise. I'm almost proud of myself.
"These mean that someone is talking"
'These mean that someone is thinking'
Disclaimer: No, I still don't own it, but hey, we can dream can't we?
Recap:
"And I haven't fergotten ya Axel."
Rude handed him a pair of chakrams. They are red, circular weapons with spikes around the outside.
"This weapon is a bit more dangerous then the others simply because it generates fire the way the sitar does water. In order ta work at all ya must have both of them together, one won't work without the other. This one took longer ta figure out how ta create then the others. It allows you to create as well as control fire, from lighting a candle to burning a forest to the ground."
He looked Axel dead in the eyes,
"You have to be extremely careful Axel. This is not a toy. But I think once ya get the hang of it ye'll be quite happy. Eventually, controlling the amount of power ya use will become second nature."
Axel stared down at them as if they were holy relics.
"Reno?" Rufus asked suddenly. Reno looked at him in surprise, he had almost forgotten that Rufus, Leon and Riku were still there.
"Yea?"
"Where did you get these things?"
Reno grinned uneasily,
'Shit, now what do I tell him?'
"I'd tell ya but then I'd have ta kill ya."
Rufus blinked and Riku jumped in as the stared at Sora and his sword,
"Damn Sora, your sword is so cool!"
Reno watched them, thinking.
Meanwhile Leon was talking to Cloud,
"Defiantly impressive, your friend's got some skill. I like swords but I prefer to be able to get in some hits from a distance before the close combat."
Reno heard him and an idea was born,
"Hey, Lionharts. You guys know how ta use swords?"
Leon nodded,
"We both do."
Reno examined them a minute,
"Hmm, Cloud give Leon yer sword, Sora give Riku yer's. Now show me what ya got."
Riku easily swung Sora's, a little too easily, but Leon could only lift Cloud's.
Reno nodded to himself,
"Okay, now switch." He ordered typing furiously on his lap top. The brothers exchanged looks, then swords. Sora's sword was far too light for Leon and Riku could not lift Cloud's.
"Okay then." Reno muttered, staring intently at the screen. Cloud noticed Rude watching Reno with a frown. Rude approached him and gently pulled the lap top from him. Reno reached after it but Rude only pulled it even farther away.
Reno glared,
"Give it back!"
"No. You should be resting, not working."
Reno gave him a look,
"This is not work."
"Fine hobby, your still not getting it back."
"Yer an asshole."
Rude nodded,
"So I've been told, but really, you should be in bed."
Reno rolled his eyes,
"I feel fine Rude, now give me my lap top back."
"No, you only think you feel fine. You always feel fine! I'm taking you to bed, whether you like it or not." That said Rude picked Reno up in the over the shoulder kind of way.
"What are you- Put me down!"
Rude ignored him and left the room heading for the bedroom. The others laughed as they could still hear Reno's indignant yells and threats.
Leon turned to Cloud,
"It's getting dark so Riku and I should be heading home."
"Okay, and thanks so much for everything you've done." Cloud said smiling.
Leon shrugged,
"No need for thanks, it's not like we did much."
Sora shook his head,
"It's not the act of doing as it is the willingness to act. You guys were willing to possibly put yourself at risk to help us, that's more then enough to be thankful for."
"Risk of what? Reno scared away that Loz dude." Riku said.
Cloud just shook his head,
"Well, in any case we should keep in touch and get together sometime."
Leon nodded,
"Sounds like an idea."
Rufus got up now and stretched,
"Well, I'll be going then too. Tell Reno I'll call him tomorrow will you?"
Sora nodded,
"Sure, it was nice meeting you."
Rufus nodded,
"You too. We'll see you later."
"Roxas, come on." Leon called him. Roxas turned to Axel and growled,
"Your still not out of the woods yet, your going to tell me what's going on if I have to force it out of you."
Axel laughed and threw an arm around his shoulders,
"How about this, tomorrow, you, me and food. We'll talk then, okay?"
Roxas looked at him suspiciously then beamed,
"Great, see you then!"
Axel turned to Cloud and winked at him,
"I'll take Demyx home with me, Zexion must be getting impatient. I'll call you later to see how Reno's doing."
Cloud nodded,
"Good night Axel."
Rude dropped him on the bed and, despite Reno's squirming, managed to confiscate a leather pouch from one of his pockets,
"Hey, give that back! Ya have no reason ta take my lock pick set!"
Rude glared at him,
"You're not even supposed to have it so quite complaining or I'll tell Tseng."
Reno snorted,
"Ya will not."
Rude just looked at him and Reno muttered to himself.
"Go to sleep Reno. You should be fine in the morning."
Reno just sighed and Rude left the room. Reno waited a minute, then when he was sure Rude was gone he got up and went to the door. He tried to turn the knob but it was locked.
Reno gritted his teeth,
'Damn guy knows me too well.' He thought.
'Takin my lock pick, how dare he.' With another helpless sigh he went back over to the bed and flopped on it,
'Not to mention he knows I hate being locked up anywhere, even for my own good.' Reno closed his eyes and let himself drift off into a, for once dreamless, sleep.
When Rude returned to the living room Cloud and Sora were cleaning it up.
"Oh, Rude. Your more then welcome to spend the night here. I'm sure Reno would be happy if you did."
Rude nodded,
"Thanks, I will, although I'm not sure I'm Reno's favorite person right now."
"Why? You just saved his life." Sora asked.
Rude nodded,
"Yes, but I locked him in his room."
"So?"
"If there's one thing Reno values in life its freedom, he hated being locked in a room but I know it's the only way he'll do what I say and get some rest." That was the most Rude had said all day.
Cloud smiled gently at him,
"I'm sure he'll get over it. After all your doing what's good for him."
Rude just shrugged.
'Yes, but you have no idea how much he needs his freedom, especially after what he went through at the hands of your enemy. But how could you possibly know that if he won't tell you.' Rude thought grimly.
That night, after checking on Reno and finding him asleep, Rude lay on the Strife sofa and thought about his friend. He was beginning to get the feeling that Sephiroth was not after Cloud anymore. After Reno got the best of Sephiroth, he knew the man would not let Reno get away with it, but now, despite the Jenova, he felt that Sephiroth was not out to kill Reno. If Sephiroth was truly after Cloud he would have tried to snatch him by now, but the only one he's personally confronted is Reno. No, the Jenova was merely an accident. The nephew just did what he had to, to escape. After all, Sephiroth should have known something like that wouldn't kill him when he is such a key to Shinra, the only company with the antidote. Then he noticed his phone vibrating and flashing on the table. He picked it up,
"Yes?"
"Rude? When I got back Elena told me you took off in a hurry, what's going on?"
"Reno contracted Jenova poisoning."
"Jenova? How?'
"One guess."
There was a sigh,
"How is he?"
"He's fine, just sleeping it off."
"That's good, but if he got his hands on Jenova than I think it's time Shinra got fully involved."
Rude frowned,
"I agree, Shinra should have gotten involved a long time ago, but Reno doesn't-"
"Rude, I don't care what Reno wants. He needs help to deal with this guy and if Sephiroth has access to Jenova then it's a personal problem to Shinra. The President wants this stomped down as soon as possible."
"Alright, but Reno is not going to be happy."
"If he had a problem with it tell him to call me."
"Yes, sir."
"Goodnight Rude."
"Same to you, sir."
Rude hung up and sighed, no way was Reno going to be happy, in fact he was going to be pissed. Reno wanted no more people involved then needed. He was not going to like this at all.
As dawn broke sunlight streamed though Reno's window, lighting his bed to show a lump under the blankets and a mass of red hair poking out all over the place. The lump didn't stir even as a loud ringing shattered the stillness. It took five rings for the lump to move. An arm struck out blindly toward the sound and knocked his phone off the bedside table. The thump of it hitting the floor raised the head and Reno looked around with sleepy blue eyes. Hearing another ring he blearily looked down and snorted,
'I never noticed just how annoying that ring tone is.' He thought to himself as he reached down to pick it up off the floor. By the time he did it had quit ringing and had one message,
"Hey, Reno. It's Elena, just checking up on you. How are you, your going to take better care of yourself now right? Tseng called Rude, he told him what happened. I agree with Tseng."
There was some mumbled sounds, then,
"I have to go, Reno. See you soon! Oh, and Reno? Take care."
The phone beeped and asked if he wished to delete the message. With a blink Reno closed the phone without answering it.
'Of course she agrees with him. When doesn't she? Wait, agree with him about what?"
Reno's eyes widened and he sat up quickly,
"Rude!"
As Reno was listening to Elena's message, Rufus was leaving his apartment at the Shinra main building and headed for the Tower. The Tower was mostly empty, being too early for most workers. As Rufus stopped at the lounge for a cup of coffee he greeted one of Shinra's best and most devoted workers,
"Good morning, Reeve."
The Head of Technologies and Robotics Department looked up from his lap top and blinked at him,
"Hmm? Morning? Already?"
Rufus nodded,
"I'm guessing you pulled another all night." He said, taking Reeve's cup and refilling it, then handing it back. Reeve took it with a nod of thanks,
"Yeah, but it was worth it."
"Are you still working on Cait Sith?"
Reeve grinned,
"Yep, he's almost done"
"How long has it been?"
Reeve sighed,
"Six months. Normally it wouldn't have taken so long but being a side project…"
Rufus nodded,
"Let me know when you finish him."
Reeve smiled,
"Sure, see you later Rufus."
Rufus passed his secretary's desk and entered his office. He sat at his desk and booted up his computer, drinking while he waited. After a minute he set his cup down and logged into the Shinra Database. He clicked 'Search' and paused before typing in 'Reno Tabasic'. After a second it spit back 1 search result.
Rufus smirked,
"Bingo."
He clicked it and a warning flashed across the screen,
'File Classified, Please input access code.'
Rufus rolled his eyes and typed in the code reserved for the vice-president. The screen went blank then flashed again,
'Higher level access code required, please input access code.'
Rufus frowned,
"Higher then me? What the hell is the old man hiding that had to do with Reno?"
Even if he wanted to question his father on this, the old man was at Midgar, directing some reactors. Rufus wasn't a hacker but did know a trick or two. Half an hour later he only managed to dig up one piece of information,
"T.U.R.K?" Rufus wondered aloud,
"What does that mean?"
He tried to get more but that was all the computer was going to give up. Rufus scowled and irritably canceled the search just as his door opened and his secretary came in with an armful of papers. She looked surprised to see him,
"Oh, Mr. Vice-President! I didn't know you were in."
Rufus shrugged,
"Good morning, Cindy."
She smiled,
"Morning, Sir! More paperwork I'm afraid."
He sighed,
"As usual. Thank you."
She nodded and left him to his office.
'T.U.R.K? Well, the only way I'm going to find out what that means is to ask someone who would know."
He picked up his office phone and dialed.
"I told ya I don't want the Turks involved!"
"Reno it's out of your control now. You need out help whether you want it or not."
"Dammit, Rude!"
"Quit complaining or call Tseng."
"I can't yell at him, besides he's goin ta do what he wants."
"Exactly."
"…I hate ya."
"I know."
Reno sighed.
Riku, the ever lazy one, had his eyes glued to the television despite the ringing of a phone nearby.
"Leon! Phone!" He yelled.
"Then answer it!"
"I'm busy!"
"Busy my ass." Leon muttered as he picked up their phone, smacking Riku over the head.
"Hello."
"Hey, Leon, It's Rufus."
"Oh? What's up?"
"I was talking to Reno and we decided to get together tonight, you and Riku want to come?"
"I'm surprised you're asking."
"It was Reno's idea."
"Reno? Why does he want us to come?"
"I don't know, he said something about Cloud and Sora coming though."
Leon raised an eyebrow,
"Really?"
"So what do you say?"
Leon looked at Riku, who ignored him,
"Yeah, we'll come. Where are we going?"
"Seventh Heaven, 6 o'clock. You know it?"
"Yeah, we'll be there."
He hung up and, walking past Riku said,
"Dress your best tonight, your going to see your fantasy boy."
Riku looked up quickly,
"Sora?"
Leon rolled his eyes,
"No, Roxas. Yes, Sora. We're going to Seventh Heaven with Rufus to meet Reno, Cloud and Sora."
Riku smirked,
"Cloud, huh? Looks like I'm not the only one dressing their best tonight."
"Shut up."
Reno was drying his hands from washing the dishes when his phone with it's new ring tone rang. He answered it as Rude came in to help himself to a glass of something,
"Reno."
"Hey, Reno. How are you?"
"Rufus, hey man. I'm great, thanks. What's up?"
"I was hoping we could talk about yesterday, about your job with by father."
"Oh, yea. Let's meet somewhere. How about Seventh Heaven?"
"Sure. Why don't you bring Cloud and Sora?"
"Good idea, I didn't want to leave them by themselves anyway."
Suddenly Reno got an idea, a wicked, matchmaker's idea.
"Hey, why don't ya invite Leon and Riku ta keep them company?"
"Yeah, they seem to get alone well."
Reno smirked,
'Ya have no idea.'
"Cool, so what time?" he asked.
"I get off at 5:00 so how's 6:00 sound?"
"Perfect, we'll see ya then."
He hung up and stood for a minute contemplating the wiseness of his idea. He was adamant about not getting the Turks involved, yet here he was arranging to tell almost a stranger his story, well part of it, and involving two innocent brothers. The brothers part isn't so bad because getting them all hooked up would do Cloud and Sora a world of good. Involving Rufus, however, was very dumb. Especially being Shinra's son, but for some reason he couldn't quite grasp he wanted Rufus involved. Reno was just having a hard time figuring out why. Deciding that he was thinking too much Reno shrugged to himself and headed out of the kitchen. Rude's voice stopped him although he didn't turn around.
"If you tell him you will have to accept the consequences."
"…"
"You like him, I know you do and in more then friends."
"…" Reno closed his eyes.
"I didn't want to say this but I don't think you realize how much danger you're in."
"…"
"Reno. He's not after Cloud anymore. He's after you now. You're the only person who had defied him in such a way. You stood up to him like no one else ever has, he has always got what he wants. Now, your what he wants, because of that."
"…" He heard Rude sigh.
"Don't get too attached to him Reno. If Sephiroth find's out, he'll try to do to you what he did to Cloud."
"…"
"I just don't want to see you get hurt again Reno. You've gone through too much shit in your life already. Please, don't set yourself up for more pain."
Reno opened his eyes, then without turning to face him, said,
"I appreciate your concern, Rude. I do, but I know what I'm doing."
He walked out then, leaving Rude to his thoughts,
'No, I don't think you do.'
A little disturbed, Reno went to the living room and flipped on the television. Rude had said aloud the thoughts that had been in the back of his mind ever since he ran into Sephiroth that time with Rufus. He was afraid that Rude was right but deep down he knew, he was right. He was right about Sephiroth wanting him and his own feelings for Rufus. Nobody knows better then Reno that denial will get you nowhere. Rude's words made him realize what he couldn't see before. The only reason he was letting Rufus get so close was because he was falling for him. Although he found it hard to wrap his mind around the thought, he knew it to be true. Reno mentally kicked himself,
'Ya dumbass idiot, Reno! Fallin in love is about the stupidest thing ya can do right now. Dammit, I really can't do anythin right!'
After a few minutes of abusing himself he turned off the television and went in search of his laptop. There was no sense in beating himself up over something he couldn't change. Now, since Rude took his laptop from him last night the odds that it would be in his room so he started with the living room. Coming up empty handed, he paused and remembered not seeing it in the kitchen. He knew it wouldn't be in Cloud's or Sora's room so that only left his room. Who knows? Maybe Rude did put it there this morning. Sure enough, there it was, sitting innocently on his bed. Reno sighed and sat cross legged on the bed, pulling the laptop onto his lap and booting it up.
Two hours later Cloud woke at the sound of a thump from the room next door, Sora's room. The brunette in question had rolled a little too far in one direction and fell off his bed, waking at the impact with a yelp. Cloud sighed and fell back onto his pillow, time to get up. Half an hour later the brothers had managed to drag the half-dead selfs to the kitchen. Sora looked around the empty kitchen with surprise,
"I thought for sure those two would be up."
Cloud poked his head into the living room,
"Looks like Rude's gone and Reno must be pretty tired still."
Sora nodded,
"Yeah, we should let him rest."
After they sat at the table and began their ritual of dragging themselves to waking, Reno walked in with his laptop under one arm and was tucking his cell into a pocket.
"Good mornin, zombies." He said cheerfully.
"Morning." Sora mumbled.
"I'm surprised your up Reno." Cloud said.
"Nah, I've been up for awhile. Hey, have either of you seen Rude?"
Cloud shook his head,
"I think he left."
Reno looked around,
"Left? Damn, I hope he gets back before we leave."
Sora blinked,
"Leave? Where are we going?"
Reno grinned,
"Oh yea, were goin ta meet with Rufus, Leon and Riku at Seventh Heaven."
"What? When was this planned?" Cloud asked.
Reno shrugged,
"Rufus called me, he suggested it. Seemed like a good idea ta me."
"So you didn't even ask us?" Sora demanded.
"Why would I? I knew ya'd want ta go. After all, Leon and Riku will be their."
Cloud frowned,
"What makes you think we would want to go just because of those two?"
Reno just shrugged as he set his laptop on the table and turned to grab another cup of coffee, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. The brothers looked at each other and sighed.
"Reno, don't be getting any ideas." Sora warned.
Reno turned back with an innocent look,
"Ideas? I don't know what ya mean."
"That's what I'd say." Cloud muttered.
Reno grinned, an impish gleam in his eyes,
'This will be so much fun.'
Rude pulled into Seventh Heaven and went up to the door. Ignoring the 'Closed' sign he knocked loudly. He waited then pounded even louder. The door opened quickly,
"Can't you read! We're closed, go find some other…Rude?" The brunette owner looked up at him in surprise.
"Hello, Tifa."
She smiled brightly,
"Come in! I didn't know you were in town! Reno never tells me anything."
He followed her to the bar and sat at a stool, she went behind it and poured him a drink.
"So what's going on? When did you come in?"
"Last night. I want to ask a favor of you."
She nodded,
"Okay."
"Reno's coming in tonight and I want you to keep an eye on him and his friends."
She cocked her head,
"Friends? Who? That cute blond and his brother?"
Rude nodded,
"With some others."
Tifa shrugged,
"Sure, I'm probably not going to have many come in tonight."
"Thank you, Tifa." Rude rose and finished his drink.
She went with him to the door and stood up on her toes to give him a kiss,
"Don't worry. I'll look after him."
Rufus sighed in a mixture between boredom and agitation. He was dieing to know what that damned father of his was hiding. His intercom beeped and he lazily pressed the button,
"Yes."
"Sir, Mr. Reeve wishes to see you."
"Okay, send him in."
"Yes sir."
The door opened and the handsome, dark haired man stepped in.
"Good afternoon, Reeve."
The man was beaming,
"I'm in the very final phase Rufus!"
"Really?"
Reeve gestured wildly,
"Yes! All those late nights paid off! Cait Sith is almost complete, all I have to do is install the final programs, it should be complete tomorrow!"
Rufus smiled,
"Congratulations. Would you like me to come see it?"
Reeve nodded,
"Of course I do! You're one of the only people who encouraged me."
Rufus nodded,
"Then I'll be there."
"Great! See you then Rufus!" Reeve turned to leave when Rufus thought of something,
"Hey, Reeve? Have you ever heard of T.U.R.K?"
Reeve stiffened subtly,
"Uh, no I haven't. Why? What is it?"
Rufus shook his head,
"I don't know but I'm going to find out."
"Oh, well, be careful."
Once the door closed behind him Reeve frowned,
'Be careful Rufus. Your our last hope.'
Reno blinked when he heard and felt a rumbling in his stomach. He looked down at it irritably,
"Yer a pain, in both senses of the word." He mumbled, getting up and heading for the kitchen. He glanced at the clock as he passed and froze, he backed up to stare at it,
'Damn, 4:00 already? Time flys."
He threw together a sandwich, grabbed a bag of chips and sat at the table to eat. Sora walked in then and looked at him,
"There you are. I saw your laptop on the coffee table in the living room but I didn't think you'd be in here. Are you just eating?"
"My stomach wouldn't give me any rest." He mumbled around a mouthful of food.
Sora shook his head,
"Maybe you should listen to it more often. How do you stay alive?"
Reno shrugged and grinned.
"No wonder your so scrawny." Sora muttered.
"Hey! I can't help it if I have a fast metabolism."
"It's not your metabolism it's your stubbornness."
Reno swallowed and a sly glint appeared in his blue eyes,
"What can I say, I'm an ass."
Sora stared at him,
"Your just so funny." He said before walking away.
Reno looked after him with a smirk and took another bite.
When Rude returned Reno had just finished eating and was back at his laptop. Rude removed his jacket and placed it over the back of the couch.
"Hey man. Where'd ya run off ta?" Reno asked without looking up.
Rude shrugged,
"I was just killing time."
"Ya went an saw Tifa, right?"
Rude wasn't surprised that Reno knew, after all they have been tight partners for almost four years.
"That's good." Reno said, tapping away,
"She misses ya."
Rude raised an eyebrow.
"No, she didn't come right out and say it but trust me. I can tell."
Rude didn't say anything but Reno didn't expect anything more, the man didn't talk much.
"By the way, Tseng's coming tonight but Elena's staying at Midgar until we finish the other's weapons."
"Weapons?" Rude asked finally.
Reno nodded and gestured for Rude to sit next to him,
"Yep, see." On the screen of the computer was an image of a sword that had mostly gun-like appearances.
"This I call the Gunblade. It's a sword with the ability ta fire bullets like any gun. I heard Leon talkin ta Cloud about how he liked swords but didn't like how he couldn't really get any long distance shots. This blade is perfect for him."
Rude nodded, impressed.
"Now for Riku, I'm jus goin ta create another Keyblade. He seemed really impressed with Sora's. I'm goin ta make it a bit bigger though, Sora's was too light for him. Oh, and Tseng said the President was thinkin about handin over that head position to Elena in place of Scarlet.
Rude nodded,
"About time."
"That's what I said." Reno agreed.
"What about Rufus?" Rude asked.
"What about 'im?"
"Are you going to create anything for him?"
Reno shook his head,
"Why would I? He's rich, he doesn't need me to make something for him. Besides I don't know enough about how he handles weapons to make one that could fit him."
Rude just shrugged.
"So, what do ya think? Are they ready ta send ta Elena?"
Rude nodded.
"Good." Reno said, e-mailing the blueprints,
"With an hour ta spare."
Then he seemed to remember something because he turned quickly toward Rude.
"Ya didn't give me my lock pick set back!
Having signed his last paper in the biggest stack, Rufus looked up at his clock and sighed,
'3:15. Only a couple more hours left and I'm out of here.'
He went to return to the papers when he paused, his intercom was blinking again, indicating that someone was on the phone line.
"What?"
"Rufus! He's ready!
Rufus frowned,
"Reeve? What are you going on about?"
"Cait Sith. He's done and perfect!"
"I thought you said he wouldn't be complete until tomorrow?"
"I underestimated my own abilities. Will you come see?" Reeve sounded almost like he was begging. Rufus shrugged, even though Reeve couldn't see it,
"Sure I'll be right there."
Rufus hung up and pulled on his white coat, running his fingers through his blond hair to make sure it was perfect.
When Rufus entered Reeve's lab he was greeted by a small black and white furred cat with a crown,
"Howdy there!"
Rufus raised an eyebrow,
"Cait Sith, I presume?"
The cat nodded,
"Sure thing, sir."
"So what do you think of him?" Reeve asked from behind Rufus, startling him although he refused to show it.
"He looks so life like."
Reeve nodded, grinning broadly,
"Pet him."
Rufus crouched down in front of Cait Sith and stroked its head,
"It even feels real."
"Why thanky, sir." The robot smiled.
"Because he's so small I've created a base for him to control and use that's faster and sturdier then he himself is."
Reeve led them both to a large moogle with a control panel on it. Cait Sith hopped onto it and imputed some information. There was a clicking noise and a slim slip of paper was from its mouth by Cait.
"Here you go my friend." The robotic cat handed it to Rufus. He took the paper and read what looked like a kind of fortune,
'Love is pure but can also hold a shadowed past.'
"Huh, I don't remember that one." Reeve muttered from where he was reading it over Rufus' shoulder.
"What is it?" Rufus asked.
"Just a feature I threw in. It's a cross between a fortune and advice. But I couldn't begin to tell you what that one means."
Rufus put it in his pocket for later and turned to Reeve,
"Well, anyway. You've done a very good job on him. Have you offered to show my father?"
Reeve nodded,
"As soon as your father returns tomorrow."
Rufus raised an eyebrow,
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I take it he didn't tell you?"
Rufus shook his head,
"He never does. I think he's trying to catch me at something."
"Well, just be careful Rufus." Reeve said with genuine concern,
"You're the future of this company you know."
Rufus nodded,
"I know."
"Sounds like it's war to me, peace, love, and casualties." Reno muttered alone to the P.O.D his laptop was playing.
"Close your eyes so you can see, peace, love and harmony." Because of the headphones he heard nothing outside the music filling his mind. Once the song finished he removed the headphones and closed his laptop, yawning. Reno glanced at his watch and shot up,
"Shit! 5:30? Cloud! Sora! We gotta go!"
When there was no answer he paused, one arm in his jacket,
"Cloud? Sora?" He called again. Nothing but dead silence. A cold chill went down his spine and Reno palmed his mag-rod. Going slowly and silently, he crept up the stairs and down the hall, stopping outside of Cloud's room. He stood perfectly still and just listened, there was no sound from the room. He took a deep breath and turned the knob, letting the door swing open. Reno stepped over the threshold and the mag-rod dropped from his hand, hitting the floor with a dull splat. His sky blue eyes widened in pure terror and shock,
"Not again. No."
Blood was spread over the floor, pooling in some places, but not an inch was spared. It was splattered in a fine spray over the walls, the dim light from the ceiling giving the room a hellish glow. Reno's eyes rested on a lifeless body, its blond hair matted and stained red, eyes open and blankly staring. Barely a foot away was another, slightly smaller with brown hair darkened to black with blood.
"No…no…no,no,no! It can't…be happening again. No."
Reno closed his eyes and dug the heel of his palms into them, taking a deep breath. The sickly sweet scent of blood made him want to pass out, then an amused and cold voice came from behind him,
"So, what do you think, Ren? Is it just like before?"
Reno spun around and his breath caught,
"S,Sephiroth!"
"Well?" The silver haired man smirked, approaching Reno.
"Y, you did this?" Reno stuttered, backing away.
Sephiroth sneered when he backed Reno into a wall and saw the flash of fear in his eyes.
"Yes I did. Isn't it pretty?"
Reno was in such a state of shock he could only flinch as Sephiroth lightly traced a finger down the side of his face,
"You have escaped me once, but you will not escape me a second time."
The man will lean forward just enough to brush their lips together then pulled back and slowly drew a long blade.
"This Ren, is the end for you. Didn't you know? I always get what I want."
He held Masamune at the ready and thrusted. His scream tore the air and hung in the silence that followed.
End Chapter Four
Heheh. How cruel am I? To end it like this, the way I treat him one would think I hated Reno or something. But he's just fun to torment, I'm horrible I know. Anyhoo, Please review and tell me what ya think. I'm dying to know. No, really, I am. Before anyone says anything I Do Not Own P.O.D. I'm just a fan. I don't own anything of value, except their CD and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. That's it. When Sephiroth called Reno 'Ren' that was not a typo, that was on purpose, as you'll find out. Sephiroth is freaky isn't he? But that's why we love him. I'm babbling again, sooo, review and I will be the happiest person ever. Oh, and starting September 4 I might not be updating very quickly because of the unspeakable place known as…school… it horrifies me.
FireHawk038
Review Replies and thanks;
Greywings2: Aw, thanks. I'm glad to hear that you're a Tseng/Reno buddy. Here's your update.
YinYangWhiteTiger: Hey, I like your name it's very cool. Thanks for your comments and yeah Rufus finding out will be something to read.
Dimonyo-anghel: Your welcome and yeah I have to agree with you about red and spikes. Although that wasn't what I was going for but hey it works. I was actually thinking about a hawk created with flames but yours is true. By the way…what is it with you and YAY's?