Chapter 6: Free Tour
About an hour after Alistair left, Tseng and Talli continued to listen in on the interrogation. Their progress seemed to flat line the moment Haruto got onto the topic of Shady Larry. No matter what he asked or how he asked it, Reno would answer either very vaguely or not at all.
"I thought we had an agreement, Reno ," Haruto said reproachfully after 30 minutes of dancing around the subject. "You tell me what I need to know and I keep my naughty hands to myself."
"First off, I didn't AGREE to any of this," Reno said resolutely. "Secondly, why the hell should I share anything about a man whose grave you shitheads dug up? I already told you everything you NEED to know. I ain't sharing anymore than that."
Tseng sighed and turned to Talli, "Why don't you go get a room ready for him. It looks like we won't be getting anything more for now. And I'm sure that bullet is starting to really hurt."
"Sure thing partner," Talli agreed before heading for the door. "You'll let me know how big a fiasco the medical visit is right?"
"I'll give you every amusing detail," Tseng promised with a light smile. Talli grinned and left without another word. Tseng returned his attention to the interrogation and sighed when he saw Haruto drawing closer to Reno once more. He shook his head and pushed the button which would allow the other room to hear him. "Haruto, I doubt he's going to say anything more so why not call it a day."
"Oh, Tseng, why must you ruin my fun?" Haruto asked with a small shake of his head. All the same, he backed off. Reno visibly relaxed a little bit but stayed on guard in case the guy changed his mind.
Tseng exited the window room and entered the interrogation room just as Haruto was making his exit.
As the swordsman passed him, he asked, "Will I at least get to have fun with him another time?"
"I didn't expect him to be your type," Tseng stated with a raised eyebrow.
"He's not, far from it." He smiled thoughtfully. "But I'm finding a strange delight in seeing how he'll react."
"Must you scar another male for life?" Tseng asked in false exasperation.
"What can I say? I enjoy seeing guys like him react," Haruto chuckled before leaving.
Tseng shook his head at the older Turk before entering the room himself. "So, for now your interrogation is over," he greeted feeling rather amused by the death glare he received. "I'm sure you wish to be able to sit again. Why don't we go and get your small irritation taken care of."
"A small irritation? You shot me in the ass you bastard!" Reno shouted back.
"I suppose I could always just leave it in then," Tseng replied turning to leave.
He heard footsteps behind him and glanced over to see Reno walking over with his hands shoved in his pockets looking none too happy.
"It must be hard taking time out of your busy schedule of dicking me over to dick me over even more."
"This could have all been avoided had you simply allowed us to bring you in for questioning sooner," Tseng reminded him as he exited the room.
"You guys don't exactly have a reputation of being hospitable," Reno retorted, following him out of the room and into the hallway.
"No but think about this, had we wanted you dead you would have been more than a week ago," Tseng stated. "Now unless you want to have that bullet become a permanent part of you I suggest you shut the hole in your face and follow."
Reno grumbled something about the Turk being an ass but followed him anyway. Every step was hell, only serving to aggravate the red head's wound even more. The two traveled down the hall and into a large elevator that brought them down to a floor covered in white. White walls, ceiling, tiled floors. Reno had to admit the place looked really fancy and a small spark of awe popped up.
"Come along, we don't have time to have you gawk at everything in sight," Tseng stated from some point down the hall. He'd already started moving leaving Reno in the entrance of the elevator.
The red-head limped along behind the older man as he led them down the hall. Pausing at a nurse's station, he could not understand the soft exchange between the two. The nurse picked up a clipboard and came around from behind the counter. Leading off, she went down a connecting corridor with Tseng and Reno behind.
Entering a small operating theatre, the nurse went to a cabinet and began collecting the instruments needed to extract the slug from the gluteus maximus of the young man.
Turning as Reno entered the room, she nodded curtly to the operating table in the center of the room under the bright lights. "Go to the table, drop your pants and bend over." She commanded, her voice gruff and raspy.
"Not the first time someone's told me that… and I'm just as disinclined now as I was then."
Reno glanced at Tseng who merely raised an eyebrow and swept a hand to the table. "The sooner you get over there, the sooner you get to sit and eat, or lay on a bed, or…"
Reno waved a hand and hobbled over to the table, "I got it." He said as he paused, loosened his belt and in one fluid move, dropped his pants and boxers simultaneously. Leaning over and resting his chest on folded arms, he stared off at the wall opposite. Behind him the nurse took a syringe and filled it from a vial. "I hope you can move this along because I have a date la…YEOW!" He yelped as she drove the needle into the fleshy part of his backside near the entry wound and pushed the plunger.
Tseng strode to stand in Reno's view. "Please control your predilection for humor at the most inopportune moments and let the lady work." He intoned in a gentle yet commanding voice.
Reno glared up at Tseng and flipped him off as the medicine started to set in. Because of the unusual substance he was unable to feel the lady digging out the bullet and instead rattled off a string of different stories that all in all made no sense.
The entire procedure took about five minutes to finish and by the time she was done, the nurse was completely fed up with the redhead and practically threw the pair out.
"Eh, hospitals are a pain anyway," Reno muttered shrugging it off and strolling forward glad to be back to normal. Tseng sighed and shook his head. He was sure the nurse would probably not accept the boy back unless he was fully unconscious. "So then what's next, dot boy?"
"Follow me," Tseng replied simply, ignoring both the question and the nickname.
Reno shrugged again but obediently followed the Turk back to the elevator. Tseng pushed the 43 button and the elevator began its ascension. Reno leaned against the glass looking out onto the city. It was close to nightfall and the streets were already lit up to welcome the dark. Tseng was watching the boy closely, but he didn't seem to have any interest in trying anything.
"Some view," Reno murmured. "Bet it's even better at the very top."
Tseng wasn't sure how to respond to Reno's sudden willingness for conversation. It was rather mercuric how one moment he was being difficult and the next he was acting complacent.
"I suppose so," he answered at last. To be honest, Tseng had been around Shinra long enough to where it didn't hold much majesty for him anymore.
When the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, Reno pushed himself off the glass wall and followed Tseng into the hallway.
He was a little disappointed to find that there seemed to be nothing on this floor. He put his hands back in his pockets and sulked down the hallway, upset that there weren't even any girls for him to look at down there. Eventually they came to a corner and turned it revealing a path of doors with card scanners next to each one. Tseng stopped in front of one and swiped his card in the pad opening the door before motioning for Reno to step inside. The redhead did without complaint.
"Huh, pretty nice digs," he said looking at the single bed and sink in the room. "What no toilet in here?"
"This is where you'll be staying until we've decided you are no longer useful," Tseng told him from the doorway. "Enjoy your stay."
Without turning around, Reno flipped him the bird once more before he heard the door close. "That guy is a serious stick in the mud," Reno muttered as he dropped onto the bed. "Huh, okay this is way comfier than my bed back home...sweet."
Tseng was rather relieved to finally have a small reprieve from the boy. Now perhaps he could finally get caught up on his paperwork. As he entered the elevator, he thought about what little he had managed to learn from him. Wutains in Midgar… unlikely but certainly not impossible. What would they want from a boy from the slums, though?
He pressed the button to take him to the Turk floor while continuing to reflect. It seemed he might directly be fighting his once-brethren from here on out. Unfortunate, but he had known the moment he chose to ally himself with Shinra that sooner or later it would happen. And if the boy knew what was good for him, he would cooperate with them. Otherwise Haruto just might be given the chance to have his fun after all.
The shrill chime of his cell snapped him back to present and he quickly answered.
"This is Tseng."
"Hey, partner." It was Talli. "We just got a worried call from the medical center. Turns out that doctor you just went to see lost her card key. You didn't happen to see where it went did you?"
The hand holding the phone to his ear tightened at what he heard and he quickly set the elevator to return to the floor he'd just gone from. "No, but I'll check and see if he has," he answered calmly.
"Okay, just don't blow up at the kid. I doubt he could get very far even if he did take it," Talli told him with a laugh. "So just relax okay."
Tseng ignored her last comment as he hung up and waited for the elevator to stop. As soon as it did, he took off down the hallway hurrying to the room he'd left the redhead in. Not surprisingly, when he reached it, it was empty. He quickly pulled out his phone while returning to the elevators just in time to see the second one stop on a floor several stories above him.
"Wow, that was fast," Talli laughed when she picked up on the second ring.
"Alert the others, the boy is loose in the building. I believe he just took a detour to the 58th floor," Tseng told her seriously as he stepped onto the other elevator and punched in the floor number.
When he'd reached floor 58, the guards there informed him no one had gotten off the elevator. Not five minutes after that, the mail room called reporting about an obnoxious red head playing with one of the label guns. By the time Tseng made it down there, however, Reno was gone having left a large mess of mislabeled packages and envelopes in his wake.
About fifteen minutes later, Tseng's search had led him to the cafeteria. As he entered the eating area several people were doubled over in apparent agony. Tseng at first was alarmed. Surely the boy wouldn't have gone so far as to poison the cafeteria food?
"H…hot… too hot…" one of the soldier's gasped, eyes watering as he clutched his throat.
When Tseng went to talk to the head chef, it turned out the boy had dumped an entire bottle of Fire Bomb hot sauce in the soup special.
As Tseng headed back to the elevator, he ran into one of his cohorts. He could guess from the look of murderous intent and the fact her strawberry blonde hair was coming loose from its bun she just had a recent encounter with their 'guest'.
"Karen, have you spotted him?" he asked, skipping the formalities.
"Yes, Tseng, I have," she replied, her toffee colored eyes flashing behind her oval shaped glasses.
"That little brat had the nerve to grope me out of nowhere and slap my backside as he ran past me," she explained, her expression growing more severe. "You'd better find him before I do, Tseng. Because the moment I get a hold of him I'm going to tear his arms off before I rip out his throat."
"We still need him alive, Karen," Tseng told her though he could understand why she'd be so upset. "There are other ways to punish an uncooperative captive."
"Then catch him and do it," the woman ordered as she slipped her hand into her pocket. At that point she froze and began searching through every pocket in her suit.
"Is there something wrong?"
"That bastard stole my card key," she seethed. "Now there's no chance of a quick death. I'll let him suffer under the most inhumane tortures I can come up with for years to come."
Tseng was about to answer when his cell phone went off again. He answered it.
"Hey, Tseng," Alistair's voice came on. "Got another report of a rogue red head. Apparently, he just got finished rearranging the company archives on floor 45."
"The company archives!?" Tseng repeated in disbelief.
"I'll handle it," Karen said immediately and entered the elevator.
The Wutain sighed, rubbing his forehead. Just when he thought the headache was over…
"Take a deep breath, Tseng," Alistair told him.
"I don't understand why you're so calm, sir," Tseng replied, barely managing to keep his tone respectful. "That boy is causing us all sorts of problems."
"Perhaps," Alistair acknowledged. "But I figure he'll only do so much for so long. And I'll make sure the kid gets the proper punishment once you've caught him again."
"Yes, sir," Tseng said before hanging up.
He sighed again. At this point, Tseng was willing to bet Reno had no intentions of escaping. Just like when he was eluding them in the slums of Midgar, this was just a game to him. A game Tseng had no interest in playing.
Holding his head in frustration, the Wutain Turk leaned against the nearest wall to catch his breath and try to figure out where the redhead would go next. He had no reservations about the idea that he'd be able to slip by Karen without too much problem and wanted to be ready for it. Before he came to any real conclusion his phone went off again and he quickly answered it.
"I swear I'm going to kill that kid!" the intense voice of the female Turk declared. "The place is a mess. It's going to take forever to clean up. Not to mention he fried the security robots. How'd he even manage that? Anyway, the brat jumped on the other elevator just as I arrived and shot up to the upper levels. Level 65 I believe is where he got off. I'd follow but the elevators won't go that high without my card key."
"I understand, I'll take care of it," Tseng promised before jumping on the elevator and riding up to the proposed level. He was surprised when he reached it and got off, stepping in what must have been at least three inches of water. Somehow, the redhead had managed to flood the entire floor.
Tseng's jaw tightened in frustration, but before his anger built he took Alistair's advice and took a deep breath. And then another. He repeated this until he was at an appropriate level of calm. He was through with chasing the teen in circles. Though if he had Karen's card…
The Wutain quickly got back onto the elevator and pressed the button, sending the elevator up. When the door opened, he breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the president was out of the office at the moment, and no one else seemed to have… Tseng noticed a wet footprint on the floor. When he looked closer he saw a trail of water leading to the staircase which led to the outer rooftop.
'Some view. Bet it's even better at the very top.'
Of course… Tseng exhaled slowly, before going to the door and following the trail which ascended the staircase. A gust of cool air greeted him as he stepped out onto the rooftop. Looking around, everything seemed to be in order. and in one piece.
He was surprised to see that the railing that overlooked the building was lacking a certain redhead. There was no sign that he had left so he continued farther out onto the roof. As he went, he spotted a pair of shoes sticking out from the door of one of the helicopters.
"So, you came all the way up here just to see the choppers?" Tseng asked as he drew closer. "I assumed leaving the building would be higher on your priority list."
"Oh hey, what took you so long?" Reno asked ignoring the earlier statement as he sat up on the seat and looked at the Turk through the window. "Honestly with the hint I dropped I figured you would've beat me up here."
At this point, Tseng was too tired to be as angry as he should. When he approached the copter, he motioned for Reno to move to the other chair. Surprisingly the red head complied and switched over so Tseng could step in and take a seat. After all of that, he needed a sit down.
"So… do you guys get to fly these things?" Reno asked examining all the switches and buttons.
"On occasion, when it's necessary," Tseng replied glancing over at him. "I take it you've never seen one before."
"Not in real life, no," the teen answered truthfully. "Always thought it'd be cool to fly one though. I thought maybe if I could get out of Midgar and into Junon, I might become a pilot or something. Make a decent buck."
"While running from the law?" Tseng inquired dubiously.
Reno's face darkened slightly. "Well, that bit wasn't part of the plan."
Now there was something Tseng could relate to. If he thought about it, him becoming a Turk had never been a part of his plan originally. They lapsed into silence, where the Wutain rubbed his forehead. "Why didn't you try to escape?" he asked Reno after a few minutes.
Reno shrugged before leaning on the silent panel. "I'd thought about it, but I figured even if I did escape I'd just end up back where I started." He glanced up, looking at the hazy dark sky through the windshield. "Besides, there's something I wanna find out, and I'm thinkin' the only way I can is to stick around for awhile."
"You mean why Shady Larry was killed," Tseng inferred.
"Well...maybe. Mostly it's about those goons who attacked me in the alley," Reno answered honestly. He looked at the Turk as he spoke but didn't really feel like he needed to. "I know I can tick people off pretty easily but I don't think I've ever been able to do it for people I've never had dealings with before. I want to know what I did so I can use it later."
Tseng was sure the last part was all for fun but was still surprised the boy spoke to him at all like this. The pair lapsed into a semi-comfortable silence before the Turk held out his hand. Reno looked down at it and then back up at Tseng's face.
"What, are you looking for a handshake or somethin', cause I don't do sappy crap like that," he told him flatly.
"The cardkeys... both of them," Tseng stated firmly. "Hand them over. Your free tour is over."
The red head's lips drew back in an 'oh yeah I almost forgot' smiling expression. He gave an exaggerated groan of disappointment but reached into his pants pocket and proffered the stolen cards to Tseng. "Just as I thought… you're a total killjoy."
"And you're a child," Tseng replied, taking the cards and tucking them away in his jacket. "Now I'm going to escort you back to your cell. If you so much as think of pulling another stunt I won't hesitate to ensure you will be incapable of sitting for the rest of your stay here."
Reno flinched at the idea and silently nodded before following him out of the chopper and back down through the elevator to his room. "You know, the biggest reason I did any of this was just to get back at you," Reno murmured as he laid down on his bed before Tseng could leave.
"For what?" Tseng asked hoping it wasn't what he thought.
"For shooting me in the ass what else," Reno retorted with a glare. "So for future reference if you're gonna shoot me do it somewhere else...or next time I'll do much worse to this place."
Tseng wasn't sure why, but he found a small smile tugging at his lips. "I'll keep that in mind," he replied before shutting the door and locking it behind him.
The next morning Reno awoke to the sounds of someone entering his room. He didn't know what time of day or night it was since his room had no window. All he knew was he was still tired and didn't feel like getting up.
"Up and at em, princess," said a booming baritone of a voice Reno didn't recognize. "You got a long morning ahead of you."
Reno responded by lifting his middle finger at whoever the person was. He heard a chuckle and then heavy footsteps come his way. Reno braced himself for a counter if the guy so much a laid a finger on him. However, no such action was taken. Instead he felt his bed tilted up so that he ended up tumbling off onto the floor, sheets and all.
"Shoot, you don't weigh a damn thing, kid," the man told him. "Don't you eat?"
It took a few moments for Reno to recover from the unexpected morning greeting from the floor and to disentangle himself. He at last glared up at the visitor and almost jumped backwards in shock. The guy was huge, easily three times Reno's size in bulk. His dark hair was slicked back and he had a mustache goatee combo that made him appear sinister. But the craziest part about the guy was his eyes. The irises were so pale they were almost white, surrounded by a dark blue ring. And unless Reno was going crazy, he was positive they were glowing. It was like staring into twin moons with pupils.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Reno demanded after he got over his shock of seeing the guy.
"Nothin' kid. It was time to get up. We make the rules around here, not you, so get used to it," Alistair replied moving around the bed to stand in front of him. "Besides, you've got one hell of a day ahead of you. First up, breakfast." He reached down and lifted the redhead off the floor by his shirt and dropped him on his feet before shoving a plate of something into his arms.
Reno looked down at the substance and raised his eyebrow. "What is this?"
"If you're gonna question it I can just take it back and you get nothin'," the large Turk told him with a shrug. "I'd just hate to see a scrawny thing like you starve to death. We have better ways of killing you in mind after all."
Reno looked at the guy and it was difficult to tell if he was being serious or not by the way the guy grinned. The red head took a seat on the empty bed and began nibbling on a piece of bacon. The little bit of food made him realize he actually was starving but he refused to show it and took it slow instead.
"So, what happened to you then?" Reno asked looking at the guy's facial hair. "French kiss a tail pipe?"
The man threw back his head and laughed. "Good one, kid. First time I heard that one." He gave Reno a hearty slap on the back, stinging his shoulder and making him also choke on a piece of sausage. "Ya got fifteen minutes to eat. I recommend clearing your plate, cuz you'll need the energy."
"For what?" Reno muttered once he got his breath back.
"Oh, you'll see," he replied with a rather evil looking smile.
Reno suppressed a shudder at the look on the older man's face before returning to his food. He didn't think he wanted to know what the man was talking about, but decided he'd take the advice and quickly cleaned his plate.
"Feelin' better now that you've eaten kid?" Alistair asked taking the empty plate from him. Reno shrugged a whatever reply but inside he was feeling rather content. "Great, looks like it's time to get started. Oh, and try to enjoy yourself kid...or at least try not to let them get to ya too badly."
Reno stared at him in confusion as the Turk up and left, locking the door behind him. He really had his misgivings about what was coming now and made sure to face the door with his guard completely up. "I can take anything they can throw at me," he thought determinedly.
Moments later the door opened again. "Remember what I said, Haruto," Alistair's voice said from the hall.
"Yes, yes, I understand."
Reno groaned internally at the sound of the familiar voice. "Aw shit, not this guy again."
The scar faced man stepped inside, smiling pleasantly as though he were about to invite Reno to lunch. Not that the red head would accept even if that were the case. "Why, hello again, Reno."
"Yo," Reno replied unenthusiastically. Just what the hell was going on?
His question was quickly answered when Haruto reached at his hip and drew out a long, curved blade from the sheath on his belt. "Well, I suppose we should get started. I only have ten minutes after all." The swordsman's smile lengthened at the startled expression on Reno's face. "Do try to make this fun for me."
CM: Dang... Reno's in for it now. This was a fun chapter to write. Even well in holding Reno's still causing problems for everyone. We're a little sad this story hasn't been getting more reviews, but I guess that's just how it goes. Look forward to seeing Reno's punishment in the next chapter.