A/N: Hey there everyone! It has been so long since I've updated, I'm really sorry. I've been completely swamped with work. This update is a bit shorter than usual, but I wanted to put something up. One reviewer said my chapters were two short, so I'd like to know what everyone else thinks (ignore the shortness of this chapter). They're usually about 2000 words. What do you think?

The only thing I can say about this chapter is that every little detail is purposely put in. I even did a little research to make sure my information was right. I won't tell you what I'm talking about, but I'm sure you'll pick up on it in further chapters. I tried to do some character development though.

Thanks a lot for being patient, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 4

Rude wasn't sure what he was expected when they all left the conference room, but Reno did not even acknowledge his existence. His redheaded partner was the first to leave the room when the meeting ended, and he stalked straight past Rude and the other Turks without saying a word. Rude turned to Tseng, who merely shrugged, before the bald Turk left the room himself.

As for the 'situation' the Shin-Ra company was in, Rude didn't have a clue. All he had to go on at the moment was whatever Tseng told him. With this in mind, he came to a halt as soon as he stepped outside the conference room, intending to wait for the raven-haired superior. He caught a brief site of the redhead he'd just encountered as he wondered down the hallway. Now that his partner thought he was out of everybody's view, his stature seemed to droop slightly, as though he felt defeated. He wondered vaguely, not for the first time, what the redhead's situation actually was, before he was tapped on the shoulder by someone behind him.

"Rude? Everything okay?" the bald Turk turned to see Tseng.

"Yes, sir." Rude raised an eyebrow, wondering if Tseng would think to shine a little like on the situation.

"If you're wondering what to do now, just go back to your apartment. Reno will probably be there. He's not really in a fit state to organize missions with at the moment." the dark haired man seemed to be staring down the corridor that Reno had previously been in.

"Sir… what is going on?" Rude asked quietly. He just couldn't stand knowing nothing anymore.

"In all honesty, Reno knows more about this than I do. But getting information from him at the moment will be hard." Tseng paused and sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. "Over time you'll get to know Reno, and things will be a lot easier for you. Until then… just take things as they come I suppose."

Rude nodded and looked at his superior. He still had a defeated look about him, like he had done when Rude had first walked into work to see him and Reno arguing. Clearly, whatever was happening was taking it's toll on everybody.

"Look, Rude…" Tseng sighed. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help. You came to us during difficult times."

"I understand." Rude said plainly. It didn't help him vent any frustration, but he did understand that some situations would be out of Tseng's control.

"Good. I'll see both you and Reno in my office at 0700 hours tomorrow."

Rude couldn't help but feel, as he followed the still slightly unfamiliar path to his apartment, that a lot of time was being wasted in the Turk department. President Shin-Ra had given them two weeks maximum to sort things out, and nobody seemed to be making a great effort to do so. He didn't like the fact that he was being left in the dark so much, especially when he had only just started his job.

The door to Rude's apartment door was slightly open when he arrived. He would've found it suspicious, but he guessed that Reno had already returned. Breathing deeply and bracing himself for what was to come, Rude entered and closed the door behind him.

Walking straight into the living room, Rude saw the redhead sprawled out on the couch. His strangely long legs dangled awkwardly off the end and his left arm was hiding his face. Rude coughed slightly, to try and announce his arrival discreetly.

"Hey." Reno said bluntly lifting his arm briefly off his face.

"Hey." Rude replied quietly. He had no idea not to say to his partner. He didn't seem willing to make any sort of intellectual conversation, so Rude made his way over and perched on the small area of the couch that the redhead wasn't taking up.

"Ya wantin' some space there, big guy?" Reno lifted his arm up again and looked up at Rude, who was currently sitting right above him. The redhead let out a huge sigh and heaved himself off the couch, stretching out his arms. Rude cringed at the resulting cracking noise, but tried his best to ignore it, hoping the redhead would say something else.

"I pro'ly made the wrong impression earlier, huh?" Reno scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that."

"No problem." Rude said, slightly relieved as Reno sat down again, slightly more dignified this time.

"Hmph…" he rolled his eyes and looked over at Rude. "This really seem like a waste of time, don't it?"

"The mission?" Rude raised an eyebrow, slightly confused.

"Yuh-huh." the man slouched next to Rude nodded his head surprisingly enthusiastically. "I been workin' on this since I freakin' got here. It's getting' kinda tedious now…"

"I… see." Rude looked away from the redhead with a frown on his face.

"I don't s'pose Tseng has enlightened you with all the details yet, huh?" Reno sighed when Rude shook his head. "I guess the top-man has left that for me then."

Rude said nothing, and used the silence to ponder on Reno's behavior. He had noticed that every time his partner said anything about Tseng, his tone became somewhat sardonic.

"If I were you, I'd be tryin' to get all the info I could… why ain't ya?" Reno asked, breaking Rude out of his thoughts.

"I don't know."

"Well, whatever. You were lucky to get stuck with me; I'm the only one that knows what's goin' on anyway." the redhead's tone has changed greatly in a short space of time, and he was beginning to sound quite proud. "Boss-man doesn't even ask me what I know now."

"Well, what do you know?"

"Ya know 'bout all the drug's heists… the mako theft?" Rude nodded. "Somebody nabbed the papers with the shutdown codes for the reactor in Junon… all to get Mako. It was some ass-hole that I used to know when I was younger."

"Is that where you were the past few weeks?"

"Yep. Ya guessed it." Reno grinned, slightly deviously. Rude couldn't help but notice that his upper canine teeth were unusually sharp, like those in a very young person. "To be honest I didn't really find much out at all… I think I made things worse actually."

"Why's that?" Rude noticed that the redhead looked away at these words, and his expression became a lot more apprehensive.

"Let's just say I hurt someone that helped me a lot." Reno looked at his knees. "I ain't seen her since then… I dunno if I'll ever see her again. She left… I don't think she left Shin-Ra altogether, but Tseng hasn't said anything…"

Another awkward silence followed, during which Reno seemed immensely interested in a loose thread on his sleeve. Rude said nothing, for once not because of his hatred for drawing attention to himself. The subject was clearly making the redhead restless, and anyone with any common sense would know not to push it.

"I wonder where she is…" Reno's tone changed rapidly once again, and he seemed more thoughtful than anything else. "I wonder if she'll forgive me."