Author's Notes: Very short, because I didn't want to stick it with the chapter before or after it. More to come shortly...
Reno woke with a start, the unwelcome dream fading swiftly, and found himself in a position he hadn't been in in years-bound wrist and ankle, on his back on a bedroom floor. As he ripped apart the strips of sheet with which he'd been tied up, he gave voice to a string of expletives that had the closest guards in the hallway knocking on the door almost immediately. Ready to take his anger out on someone-anyone-he stood and jerked open the door. "Where in Ifrit's blazes have you been?" he demanded furiously of the closest guard.
"Uh, sir?" The suddenly terrified young man looked to his comrades for support, and found that none would meet his gaze. "Here, sir," he answered nervously.
Reno grabbed him by the collar and half-dragged, half-threw him into the room, facing the broken window. "You didn't hear anything unusual, by any chance?" he asked, his voice deceptively casual.
"I, um, I did leave for just a moment. To the bathroom. Sir." The guard's voice cracked slightly as he took in the state of the room and realized that the woman the Turk had had with him was gone. "I was only away for a moment…" He wondered how she had gotten away with Reno in the room with her, but knew that if he had any chance of surviving this, voicing that thought would destroy it.
Reno flexed his hands lightly, eyes on the unfortunate young man, but any homicidal thoughts he was entertaining were interrupted by another guard, this one entering the room from the hall, clearly unaware that anything was amiss.
"Sir, the chopper is here." The new arrival stopped in the doorway as Reno turned, storm-grey eyes locking on him like a targeting scope.
The Turk cursed softly, then rolled his head, cracking his neck before nodding. "I want everyone in front of the building in five. Si'ara's gone, and if I don't think you're putting your best effort into finding her, I'll shoot one of you every hour until she turns up." If nothing else, she'd probably show just to stop him from shooting people she didn't even know. Sentimental- He cut off that line of thinking. A manipulative bitch, that's what she was. He'd found some creative uses for his EMR in the past, but this would require a whole new level of innovation.
This time, his thoughts were interrupted by his PHS. He winced when he saw the number, but flipped it open.
"Reno." Rufus's voice was crisp and businesslike, as always. "The chopper should be there by now. I need you to return within the hour-Tseng and Elena have an appointment in Wutai this afternoon."
"Not gonna happen, yo." Reno made no attempt to match his employer's tone-grabbing his PHS had brought to his attention the fact that his wallet was gone. Gritting his teeth, he patted himself down to be sure she hadn't taken any of his weapons. Discovering his cigarette case still in place, he flicked one loose and lit it, fortifying himself with a deep drag on his way to the window.
"Would you care to explain yourself?" Rufus's voice remained level, but Reno knew how little he liked having his plans disrupted.
"Si'ara's gone." Examining the frame and the ground outside, he discovered what he had expected-no blood, and no simple trail to follow. "So unless you want me to come back without her, I won't be leaving just yet."
Dead silence met his pronouncement, then Rufus asked, slowly and quietly, "How long will it take you to get her back?"
"Nightfall, at the latest." If he had to, he'd round up some of the villagers, march them down to what passed for the center of town and start picking them off. He didn't think it would come to that-there were still guards at all of the checkpoints in Junon, so she couldn't get out of the town. And there couldn't be that many places she could hide.
"Fine. Send the chopper back. If you have her in the morning, I'll see what's available." Rufus paused. "And Reno?"
"Sir?" Reno's loyalty to Rufus was unwavering, but it didn't blind him to the young president's faults. He was a hell of an improvement over his father, but still possessed a quick temper and a determination to have the world shape itself to suit him.
"I asked Tseng to assign you this task because failure isn't an option here. If you don't think you can handle it, let me know. I can send Elena to take care of it instead."
"It's under control. Sir." Reno kept a tight rein on his temper-the Turks could get away with a lot more than the rest of the Shinra employees, but getting into an actual fight with Rufus was best reserved for very rare and unique circumstances. This wasn't the time.
"Contact us when you have her." Rufus disconnected without waiting for an answer, and his use of the word "us" instead of "me" meant he had no intention of personally answering Reno's call. That suited the Turk just fine-he had no desire to speak to the president at this point. Snapping his PHS closed, he headed out to assemble his resources and start tracking down his supposed captive.