The Long Road

by brickbatz

Post-Dirge of Cerberus, Reno-centric slash fanfiction. Rated for language, sex, violence. On permanent hiatus.

7. Chapter 7

Kudos to anyone who gets the original game reference I used for the brand of cigarettes! Sorry this one took so long. You can see why.

7--

Another four days passed, leaving me alone in Vincent's company for almost a week now and finding the contents of my liquor cupboard starting to dwindle. Usually I'd have restocked by now but even though I'd started to trust the guy, I still didn't feel entirely comfortable leaving him alone in the lodge. Or maybe I was just using this as an excuse not to go shopping…

Rude had told me his assignment may take a number of days because research so often did when it didn't have a set goal. Maybe he'd found a good lead and he was following it, or perhaps he hadn't found a lead at all yet. I wouldn't know, because any reporting he did would go directly to Tseng on his cell phone; I didn't expect him to call or let me check up on him every now and again like a worried parent or something but I wouldn't have minded confirmation that he was alive every couple of days. I'm sure if he were in any kind of trouble, or out of contact for a day at a time, Tseng would have informed me. There really was no reason for concern; I was just acting like the best friend I am to the guy, I guess, but anyway…

Having scouted every cupboard and corner that was gathering dust in the kitchen for something to drink and coming up empty handed, I was now trudging down to the second building to continue my search there. It was a chilly afternoon, although the sky was perfectly clear and grey as ever, and I could have done with a good glass of bourbon or at least a brew. Staring off into the distance I could just make out the looming silhouette of Midgar jutting out from behind the next clump of mountains. The sky looked darker and drearier over the city even from here and as I walked I considered the fact that one of the reasons I loved the twilight so much is that the rest of the day, the sky looked as dead and lifeless as the metal ceiling that loomed over the slums when I was a kid. Living under that plate had never left me afraid of the open sky, though. I had always felt driven to live under it and not under the floating city, as if doing so was like living in a different world entirely. I suppose it was, kind of. For the child in me it was, at least.

As I came up to the back door of the lower building, I glanced back over my shoulder at the lodge further up the cliff side. I almost expected to see a flash of red as Vincent made a break for it whilst I was preoccupied but I suppose my childish worries were unjustified, seeing as the man had come with us of his own free will in the first place and seemed perfectly comfortable staying at the lodge.

Unlocking the panel door, I slid inside and fumbled with the light switch, which was almost impossible to find in the dark. As the light flickered to life one by one, I blew the cobwebs from my fingers and brushed my hands off against my pants. I know it amused my partner that I could drench myself in blood and dirt when I was on an assignment and have no problem with it but when it came to getting my hands dirty for no good reason I got grossed out and obsessive about keeping them clean. I couldn't really explain it, but I hated to touch anything grimy. Spider webs definitely counted as grimy and no matter how many times we used this storage room, it always seemed to gather more dust and house new colonies of creepy-crawlies every time I went in there.

I scoured the room for what I wanted, shifting various crates which were considerably more empty than the last time I'd been in there. We tended to buy non-perishables by the truckload simply because it meant spending less time in public but I guess no one had thought to order any for a while now because clearly we were almost out. I also tended to buy a crate load of alcohol whenever Tseng made an order but I think that was running dry too because none of the boxes I moved made the familiar clinking sound of glass on glass that I welcomed eagerly.

This room of the second building was where we stored absolutely everything. The other side of the building was our garage, where the stairs to the upper level were, which lead to our makeshift office. Needless to say that side was a lot less dusty and decrepit than this room, and I wasn't surprised when I lifted a crate only to have the bottom of it fall out, nor was I all that bothered by the fact a rat scuttled across the rotting floorboards. The quiet sound of a bottle rolling inside one of the boxes did catch my attention though and I put the crate down, taking a drag of the cigarette I'd stuffed between my teeth a few minutes into my search. Flicking out my pocketknife, I slid it under the lid of the box, easing out the loose pins that stopped it from collapsing when stacked amongst the others and let the top of the crate clatter to the floor.

I never liked the fact that everything you bought in crates was stored in a fuck load of straw. What did the delivery company think we were, chocobos? It made me feel more like a stowaway than someone hunting for alcohol when I started digging around in the fricking hay for the bottle I was sure I'd just heard. I was grateful that the stuff kept the bottles from breaking but surely there were other ways to keep it safe for delivery.

We never actually had anything delivered directly to the lodge, even though many people knew we were occupying the place still. It was just an extra safety precaution, should anyone attempt to rig the truck up to explode at its destination or anything like that. That was the main use of our own transport, simply to transport supplies from Kalm or the outskirts of Midgar or even the Chocobo Ranch, depending on what we'd ordered and how suspicious Tseng perceived it to be. Bullet and weapon shipments we sometimes even picked up directly from the boat that delivered them from our wholesaler in Rocket Town.

I grinned as my hand touched something cold at the bottom of the crate, careful to bite down hard on my cigarette so I wouldn't drop it into the straw and set the whole damn place on fire. Triumphantly I pulled a bottle of cognac from the box and inspected it. I didn't usually drink cognac – I was much more partial to whiskey of any kind – and this bottle probably belonged to Rufus but I didn't see him drinking it anytime soon anyway so I'm sure he wouldn't mind or even notice if I commandeered it for the sake of my sanity. I hadn't had anything to drink the night before and I had been so bored I'd even considered climbing down the cliff face and jumping into the river below. Although, that probably wasn't the best idea ever and I'm pretty glad I didn't follow through. As much as I loved the sea and other large bodies of water, I wasn't the strongest swimmer on the planet. Growing up in the Slums had hardly given me a chance to learn and whilst I had received basic training in the ShinRa military academy, I'd been a bit of a reluctant student at the time, and though I'm sure I could swim and keep myself alive if it came to that, I didn't want to just throw myself into deep water for fun.

Frowning at the mess I'd made, I told myself I'd tidy up some other time and pushed the empty crate back towards the wall before I left the storage room and locked it up again.

I was about to start up the hill again when I looked down at the keys in my hand curiously. The office space was available to all of us, so I did have a key, even if I'd never used it personally. I'd only been in there to hang around and get on Tseng's nerves when I'd really gotten bored in the past but it wasn't lost on me that I could go rifle around in some of the paperwork and try and find answers for myself. I was bored anyway, and I really did want to know. The days apart from the rest of the group had cooled my frustration a little but having listless hours to myself just thinking didn't do me much good. I didn't like to dwell on the subject anymore than I enjoyed my recent self-analysis but as much as I tried to distract myself my thoughts wouldn't let it be right now. Anyway, unless Tseng and Rufus had gone to extra lengths to keep me in the dark about what was going on, such as destroying all evidence or taking their notes with them it shouldn't have been too hard.

Deciding the worst that could happen was not finding out anything, or finding out something I wish I hadn't, neither of which would really bother me in the long run I was sure, I circled the building and let myself in the other side.

The parking garage was almost entirely empty right now save for my motorbike and Tseng's sitting in one corner – surprising as it may have been, Tseng loved motorbikes, although he'd never admit to it; instead he'd stress that he only kept it for the convenience. I had caught him down here once or twice, cleaning it and caring for it obsessively when he though everyone was asleep; I don't even know if he'd realized I was watching him work, but the whole thing humbled the man in my eyes. It's nice once in a while to reassure myself that my superiors are just as human as I am.

His was covered with a plastic sheet but mine sat there gathering dust. It was an older model than Tseng's, whose bike looked as sharp and professional as the man himself, but I didn't care. I loved my own bike almost as much as Tseng loved his; it hadn't always been mine, but it was precious to me for exactly that reason. It had once belonged to another of the Turks, Rod, who I had acted as mentor to in the few years he was with us. He was brash and hot-tempered, disobeyed most of my orders on every mission and got himself in a hell of a lot of trouble all the damn time. The two of us were a fucking good team when it came down to it, even though he probably never would have admitted it because he spent most of his time trying to pretend that he absolutely hated me. If I had just 1 gil for every time he'd called me a jerk in the six years I'd known him before he died, I'd have enough money to leave ShinRa and start up my own rivalling power company, I'm sure. I still remember how much Tseng hated when the both of us worked together, because we were so fucking loud and abusive, cursing and drinking and competing our way through every assignment. That was back when Veld had been our leader though, and Veld definitely saw the potential in the both of us because he was always pairing us up for assignments and letting us wreak havoc on the earlier ensemble of Avalanche. Bastard was always getting himself hurt and leaving all the work up to me, and he was one of those Turks that bugged me by trying to 'be number 1!' all the time but I was still a little distressed when Old Man Shinra had called for his disposal. At least I hadn't done that one myself.

When we'd picked Rod up he'd been robbing the same damn bike I owned now from the ShinRa parking garage under the tower. He'd been at the front of some biker gang and breaking in had been the last trial of his leadership. I'd fought him down there, then arrested him and after beating him into the ground a little to prove my own authority, dragged him up to the President's office and offered him a job. After Veld had run out on us, Tseng had given him the motorbike for reasons I'm not entirely sure of myself – probably had something to do with the fact he was an avid fan of the things himself – and after Rod's death, it passed on to me. I still kept it running, all these years later.

Smiling slightly at the memory, I let my eyes linger on the machine as I started up the stairs to the office. The staircase wound around all the walls of the building on one long landing, a design I'd never really understood. The door into the office was almost directly above where the stairs began and I thought this to be a ridiculous design flaw because one set of steps between the lower level and that door would have been just fine. If anything, the strange wooden landing didn't make for a speedy exit if I ever got caught snooping in the President's paperwork. I strolled down it, stubbing out my dying cigarette on the railing and pausing to open a window when I realized throwing the butt down into the garage, which was home to several cans of petrol, probably wasn't a good idea even if I was sure it was out properly. Once I'd disposed of it I searched the keys on my keyring for one that would fit into the office door.

After several failed attempts I let myself in, not surprised to find the office as neat and organized as Tseng's always had been in the ShinRa tower. There were three desks in there, although one was just acting as a countertop for a coffee machine because neither me nor Elena or Rude had ever done any work on it. Tseng's desk was stacked with folders and neatly aligned pens, which I had to resist the urge to mess up simply so no one would know that I had been in here. I pulled out his chair and sat down, pulling the first folder off the top of the pile. The front of it simply read 'ShinRa Power Company' along with a variety of dates that didn't seem immediately important. I unclipped it and flicked through the first through pages inside boredly. Most of what was inside was old reports that I still remembered having to write. It was back when we were following the remnants, and Tseng had me writing up details on locations, assignment activities, discoveries and shit like that. I really thought he'd been doing it just to be a jerk to me, because it was beyond me why he'd want to keep confidential information like that on record and I thought he'd just burned them afterwards or something equally as cruel. I was surprised to find a lot of pages of my own bored handwriting inside and flicking through the rest of the folder quickly, I found nothing of interest. Perhaps the dates were relevant after all. Inspecting them again, I found the folder must have just covered that period in time and thanked the gods that Tseng was organized enough to make this easy for me.

He'd told me Rufus had gotten sick again right after the Stigma had cleared up, so I assumed that is why this folder was on top because the rest didn't appear to be in date order. Perhaps he was searching for something I'd discovered that could help us, or might have caused the mysterious new condition the President was in. I was careful to pile the folders up again in reverse order as I scoured through them so I could put them back without a single one looking disrupted. For a while, nothing interested me. Some of the folders contained old bills for orders we had made, which after deciding was too boring to read immediately I put aside and stole a piece of paper from Tseng's drawer to note down that I should read them when I was done. Most of it was probably food orders, weapons and other essentials but perhaps I could find something out about Rufus' medication in there. I was interested to find out what they had him taking every day.

The only folder on Tseng's desk that seemed even slightly relevant mentioned several times that Rufus' condition had worsened. Nothing in the folders was really informative but I took notes of some of the dates anyway, in case I came across anything on Rufus' desk or in the bills that I wanted to cross-reference. I got up, making sure everything was at a damn right angle like it had been when I sat down, and wondering when Tseng had gotten so obsessive over his neatness. He'd always been a tidy man but this appeared to be almost compulsive. Perhaps it was… perhaps he was just stressed. Looked like he had a lot on his plate right now.

When I approached Rufus' desk, I started to feel like a naughty kid sneaking cookies from the jar before teatime or something. Not that I'd ever had a cookie jar in my home when I was a kid. I just really felt like I was trespassing and it was all I could do to tell myself that it was for the President's own good. His chair seemed a little more luxurious than Tseng's, the wood of his desk a little more expensive, and his computer a little more personal. I'd never taken it upon myself to rifle through the boss's desk before and I didn't want to start now, especially because there was nothing visible I could flick through lying loosely on the desk's surface. But I'd already come this far, so I sat down on the white leather seat and rolled myself over to the locked cupboard at one end of the area. There'd been one by Tseng's desk too, although I hadn't thought to look at that before.

I wasn't bothered by the fact I didn't have a key for either of the cupboards because a Turk has got to be able to pick locks. You could hardly call yourself a qualified assassin if you couldn't even break into a building. I don't know if it was some kind of stupid morality that I really wasn't used to or what but I felt really bad about breaking into my boss's confidential files.

Although that didn't stop me from taking a paperclip from Tseng's desk and getting down on my knees to pick the padlock on the cupboard. Picking locks always made me want a smoke. I was too damn impatient to sit there tapping pins and I needed something between my teeth to help me calm down. I pulled out my cigarettes knowing full well I was probably going chew them to death instead of smoking any of them. I got my penknife out again too, because this was a pretty heavy-duty padlock and I'd need it as a tension wrench. Lighting up, I bent the paper clip into a right angle and slid it into the padlock, wedging the blade of my pocketknife underneath it to press it upwards.

I was actually surprised at how easily the padlock slipped open because I'd expected a tougher defence on Rufus' private files. I put it up on the desk and sat back, sliding out a tray full of files from one of the shelves inside. The rest of the cupboard was almost empty, save for a folded white coat and a small tub of pills that was sticking out of its sleeve. As I flipped open the top folder, I wondered why he would possibly need any more coats and why he had a habit of hiding his pills inside his clothes.

The first folder I grabbed caught my attention immediately – it wasn't exactly what I was looking for but that didn't mean it wasn't interesting. Anything dated in the last six months saying 'ShinRa Tower Reconstruction' on the front was something I was sure I should concern myself with.

I think the worst thing I discovered as I flicked through the thick folder was that my first presumption about the folders contents was true. There were technical layouts, photographs of scale models, bills for construction and contact details of builders and electricians, and somehow I'd missed all of this. Whilst none of it was necessarily a bad thing, and we had all been told there were to be future plans to reconstruct the fallen tower, the first thing I wondered was when exactly Rufus was planning on fucking telling me about the fact construction had evidently gone underway already, although I'm not sure I could trust him to tell me anything at all at the moment. No one even saw it fit to tell me he was sick…

I wondered just how much of this new building had been built already. Recalling my discussion with the President in the kitchen before he'd left and ignoring the parts of that situation I'd rather not remember at all. I noted that he'd said something about how long we'd been at Healin and that we'd be out of here soon. It had been some time now since I'd been to Midgar, mainly because I had no reason to do so; supplies from Midgar and Edge were picked up from the outskirts of town or supply trucks met us half way between there and Healin because a lot of citizens from Edge still hated anything to do with Shinra. It had been several months since I'd been into town to drink either because when it came to going out to a bar, it was easier to go the extra distance to Kalm than cross over the top of the mountains. Not to mention that Kalm had nicer lodging and I felt less compelled to fly home completely wasted.

I grabbed my notes and another pen off of Rufus' desk, noting down the names and numbers of the construction companies so I could keep track of what was going on if no one had told me in a couple of weeks time. There wasn't really much else I could note down, so I took a moment to actually appreciate the beauty of the new design.

It had natural defence – it was designed to be built into the side of the mountains just outside Edge, as tall as the last building but much sturdier. A massive blockade of spikes on top of the building shielded it from aerial attacks, as did a scaffold around the outer curve of the building, both of which looked like a piece of architectural genius. The full-scale model was mainly white, and steel grey in parts, which almost blended in with the colour of the mountain behind it. It was absolutely stunning, I had to give it that, and if I were to try and describe it better than that I'd say it was like an architectural representation of the President himself. Dominant, pure-looking, deadly, powerful – whoever had designed this masterpiece was obviously getting paid a lot of money. Most of the curved front was made of windows, the largest running the entire way around the top where I assumed Rufus' office was going to be. The whole building was absolutely beautiful. Staring at all the images of it almost made me forget how pissed off I was that I hadn't been told. Almost.

But none of this was the reason I'd broken into my boss's private files - I told myself to put the folder aside, noting down a reminder to make a trip to Midgar soon to see if construction really was in progress, and started on everything else in the cabinet. As soon as the building work was out of mind, I couldn't shake the edgy feeling I was getting, like I was about to get caught. I rifled through the folders quickly, even going as far as to glance nervously at the door every few minutes, half expecting Tseng or Rufus just to be standing there, glaring in silent fury.

I was probably sitting there for a good forty minutes; despite the fact I'd expected the President to keep the most secrets in his private workplace, it wasn't until I'd locked everything back up and started on Tseng's things once again that anything else caught my interest. There were more reports, although these were bi-annual reviews of the other Turk's performance and my own over the past two years. Perhaps in place of the reports we'd had to write at the end of every assignment previously, but there was something really strange about them; there was no criticism on any of the reviews. It seemed very unlike Tseng to only give praise to our work, regardless of how well it was carried out. I imagined he was like a bad teacher, picking out every little fault and thinking it was the only way anyone could improve. Maybe I was just really wrong about him, but it didn't sit well with me at all. I poured over the next few files anxiously, wondering if he really had expected me to do something like this and had filled the cupboard with bogus information.

Or at least I did until I found something that looked exactly like what I was looking for. It was a simple brown clip folder, just like the other twenty I'd taken a look at which were filled with plans for assignments and other documents that were very routine for me, except this one had no dates on the front. Instead, it had a little note paper-clipped to the top saying '#011 stigmatalime'. If that didn't sound suspicious, I don't know what would have.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor again, I uncapped the bottle of Cognac and took a swig. I'd been doing so sporadically for the last half hour and a third of the bottle had already gone down without me realizing it. Swallowing the bitter, smooth liquid with a smack of my lips, I glanced back over my shoulder once more at the closed door, still expecting it to open suddenly, and unclipped the file.

"Stigmatalime," I mumbled to myself as I followed the page with my finger, "Permeation of the central nervous system by tainted mako."

Ugh, I didn't even want to read on. The idea itself sounded horrible, but I could still remember what Rufus looked like that night, and I was sure it was his veins pulsing green, not his nerves. Surely if it had been his nervous system his entire body would have had that odd green glow. Not to mention Tseng did say they weren't sure what was wrong with him – not that I took the Wutain's word for it but I have to say, I was curious…

"Reno."

"Nnggh…?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and watching the hazy red and black smear in them come into focus as Vincent shook my shoulder gently. My own hands rested limply on my lap on a pile of photocopies I'd taken of what I'd found in Tseng's desk, the bottle of Cognac wedged between my thigh and the arm of the chair I was sitting in. I must have fallen asleep reading it.

I'd decided to make the photocopies when I'd completely filled up the note paper I'd been writing on; it wouldn't be suspicious if a few sheets went missing from the copier because I doubt anyone would be counting, and if I kept the copies hidden in my room there would be no other trace of what I'd done. It wasn't like anyone was going to search my room for any reason. I doubted anyone at the lodge – besides Vincent because he'd had the joy of staying in there - would even touch my things with a barge pole. It didn't seem quite as grimy as the trailer I'd grown up in, but it stood a strong chance of becoming so. Or maybe it already was, and it was just the natural light that made it seem a whole lot happier. Whatever, I liked it that way. "…Whaddya want?"

"I need you to take me to Edge."

I yawned, smearing my hand across my face to wipe the sleep from my eyes and looked at him. That was pretty convenient – if I flew him in and dropped him off wherever he needed to be, I could swing by where the would-be construction site of the new ShinRa tower was and check it out… but I still recalled Rufus' orders to not lose track of him.

As far as I was concerned, we could trust him not to run. Over the past four days since we'd played cards, it seemed we'd become somewhat amiable. I still wasn't going to get too far ahead of myself and call us friends but I could sit in silence in his company almost as comfortably as I could in Rude's now and that really was saying something because I wouldn't sit still for just anyone. However, I still couldn't say I really knew the man, nor did I know if I ever really would be able to say I could, and so for all I knew he could just be manipulating me until I regarded him trustworthy enough to let him run around on his own. Regardless of how I was feeling about my superiors or Vincent right now, it was still my job to keep him under our roof. Under order to keep a close eye on him at all times, allowing him to go into Midgar would have me tracking his every move and I wouldn't have the time to go looking for the construction site. There was a time in my life when simple logic never would have won out over my emotions but that was many years ago now and this wasn't one of these scarce times where that still happened.

I suppose, if I was Tseng, I would have taken the time to explain all of this to him so he understood properly why I had to let him down. But I wasn't Tseng. Actually, I was pretty happy not being Tseng, the stuck up bastard. Although if I were, I would have understood what I'd been reading a hell of a lot better, I suppose.

According to what the file said, Stigmatalime apparently worked similarly to a hereditary disease in that it only seemed to infect those who had the Jenova gene passed onto them directly, the same way that Geostigma had mainly affected children who had been caught in the aftermath of Meteor. This was the first flaw I found in the research – as far as I knew, Rufus had never come in contact with Jenova cells, although I could be mistaken. It would explain why he also contracted Geostigma in the past but from what I'd heard, Cloud was the only remaining person on the planet with pure Jenova cells in his body and I was certain the president had never received the SOLDIER treatments. Other recorded cases of this new disease were in ex-Soldiers who had survived Weapon's attack on both Junon and Midgar and had gone on to escape after the fall of Shinra. There were plenty of them around; most had disappeared to live in solitude; some had taken on mercenary jobs and other menial work like Strife had. Some had even been eager to restart the department once they'd heard Rufus was still alive.

Also, there was apparently no cure for Stigmatalime. Some cases had deteriorated terribly to the point where they were so weak they could no longer function on their own. From what I gathered, these people were under the care of the same doctor Tseng was taking Rufus to see in Cosmo Canyon – it was all I could do to pray that Rufus was not descending into that condition. It's a shame I'd never been much of a religious man.

However, in a few cases, the derogation had reached a plateau and whilst the illness was very prominent, it was stable. Stranger still, the disease was yet to prove fatal to any of the recipients.

The folder also included photographs and notes on the stages of Rufus' illness. It was actually hard to tell if he was getting weaker or not because when he'd first contracted the illness – if this even was what he was stricken with because plenty of evidence suggested otherwise – he had been recovering from the Geostigma and so his condition was improving at the time. Although, going by what I'd seen with my own two eyes, I'd say he was pretty damn debilitated right now. Regardless of any of this, I was pretty furious still that I'd been kept in the dark this whole past year, and although I hate to admit it, terrified of what might happen to my boss. Anyway…

"What makes ya think I will?" I replied with a playful smirk, sitting up a little straighter in my chair. Well, technically it was Rufus' armchair but since I'd already trespassed on his private belongings once that day I figured I might as well do it again.

"Reno, I need to make the trip. I suggest you agree, unless you are willing to let me out of the lodge for several days so I can walk there."

I looked down at the papers in my lap and began to shuffle them back together with one hand, straightening them up so I could go hide them somewhere. "What's so urgent that ya can't wait 'til the others get back?" I asked, glancing up slowly from what I was doing.

His pale lips pulled tight into a thin line as he stepped back slightly and folded his arms, staring right at me with those piercing red eyes I'd grown so accustomed to in the time we'd spent together. From what I'd picked up, it seemed like those eyes really could see straight through me and every time he stared, he was reading me like a book. "You're not allowed to let me leave the lodge, are you?" he said, accusingly.

He wasn't quite right but correcting him would only bring me more work and I had just woken up so I really wasn't feeling up to the task right now. Any other day, I'd be excited for the change of scenery but I'd read some pretty nasty stuff earlier and it wouldn't be completely off-track to say I was on a bit of a downer. Following him would be quite an effort and flying to Edge would mean I couldn't get blind drunk like I normally did when I was tracking someone. I didn't even have Rude with me to keep me company. So I lied… I half-expected him to see straight through it but I had been trained in the art of lying and had come out top of my class. "Bullseye," I grinned, rolling my eyes as I grabbed the papers and the bottle of Cognac and stood up.

"You can accompany me." Vincent grabbed my arm lightly as I tried to pass him, and I stopped, not turning to look at him in case those mesmerizing eyes of his convinced me to do so. Although tagging along with him sounded a little more appealing, there was a flaw in his plan.

"Nice try, Valentine." I shrugged, glancing over my shoulder slightly and being careful to look straight past him, just in case. "But I don' think Rufus would be too happy bout us gettin' seen together."

"He wouldn't have to know." He offered, tugging my arm so I'd turn to face him. It was almost like he knew he could convince me if he stared me straight in the eye. I'm not saying he could, I was just worried that it was possible. I don't know if it was because I felt threatened when he did so or what but it had happened before. I probably would have cooked for him that night we played cards if he'd asked nicely enough. The tone of his voice made the statement seem quite demanding and as I stared over his shoulder, I decided it was time to reinforce my authority here.

I shook his hand off, pulling my arm away slightly more harshly than I intended to and staring at the space between his eyes determinedly. "Can't do that. Got direct orders. And no offence or anythin but ya really don' look like the kinda guy who'd go around keeping a Turk fer a buddy. Don' wanna know what ya real friends would have ta say bout that!"

"You say the word Turk like it's dirty." He stated, and I stared at him blankly. The fact he'd pick that out of everything I'd just said amused me somewhat but I didn't want to let my guard down and let him know I found his curious nature so funny.

"That's cause it fuckin' is these days!" I yelled, raising my voice a little too loud and spinning on the spot to leave again before he could continue the conversation any further.

Seems Vincent had other plans because he grabbed my arm again, jerking me back this time. I thrashed round, grabbing his gilded wrist and gripping it tightly so he couldn't pull away, not that letting go seemed to be his intention right now. I finally met his eyes, a little surprised to find they weren't full of anger but instead seemed a little sad, although I didn't let it show. Whatever the hell he was sad about would have to wait, because I was pissed off now, even if I had brought it on myself. It never took me long to get myself riled up anyway and usually I enjoyed a good fight. If that's what I had to turn this damn conversation into, so be it. I didn't want to follow him around Edge like some little puppy, or more likely a guard dog against all the people who wanted to thank the bastard for saving their puny asses once again from the towering defences of the planets life blood. Omega Weapon was one hell of an opponent from what I saw and heard. You could actually see the damn thing from the lodge; it towered a good six or seven hundred feet into the air over the ruins of Midgar. Still, Vincent didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd appreciate all the hero worship. A lot of people, including myself, considered it one of the reasons Cloud had left Edge to live in solitude before the incident with the remnants.

"I don't think so." Vincent admitted quietly, glancing away for a second before he looked me in the eyes again. Lowering his voice and sounding very dangerous suddenly, he told me, "I need to make a delivery. It is somewhat urgent and I am a man of my word, Reno."

I scoffed, staring him down. "What's that? Don' fuckin tell me yer a delivery boy like Strife now? No fuckin kiddin…" I smirked, chuckling evilly at the thought of it. I can't think of anyone who'd want a package delivered by him, except perhaps Yuffie. He'd scare the living daylights out of someone if he turned up on their doorstep.

On second thoughts, perhaps people would want this week's world hero bringing them their mail. It'd probably be quite the thrill, but I couldn't see Vincent enjoying it. Although the dark, brooding man probably enjoyed doing things that made him feel bad or something, for all I knew. Fuckin weirdo.

"No. It is for a friend. She asked me to deliver it to her and I am not one to deny my friends their simple requests, Reno." He told me, his voice vicious as we glared at each other, like he was trying to prove a point. I wasn't having any of it! Even if he was trying to hint we were supposed to be friends or something, he'd stepped the line the second he grabbed me.

"Well neither am I, Vincent!" I shouted, yanking his hand from my shoulder and dusting it off in disgust like the gauntlet was diseased or something, adding with a snort of laughter, "A friend? A guy like you has friends? I never would have guessed! What, with that attitude you can't seem to drop-"

My words trailed off as he caught my wrist in his gloved hand, making me look at him sharply. His expression was almost unreadable but I tried anyway as we stared silently at one another once again. I don't know what he possibly could have found so damn offensive about what I'd said that he couldn't even bring himself to react, because I'd assumed that if I'd done something wrong I'd find myself thrown against something or clawed to death. It's not like I even meant what I'd just said; I'm sure he was well aware of this, too. I knew he had friends; the old Avalanche assembly, for example - Cloud, Tifa, Cid… that lot. I didn't really have anything against them anymore, either. I'd even say we got along, sometimes. Back when I used to frequent Tifa's bar, I'd even sit and drink with Cloud when neither of us had anything better to do.

"What?" I snapped after a minute, the long silence starting to drive me crazy.

"That's…" He said quietly, averting his eyes to the floor but not loosening his grip at all.

"That's what?"

"The first time you've called me by my name." He admitted softly, the earlier menace in his voice forgotten and replaced with something sad and slightly confused.

As we stood there, frozen like a statue, and his words sank in it was my turn to be confused; surely this wasn't true. I must have called him by his name a few times. Hadn't I?

But no, I couldn't recall a single time I'd done so either. It was always nicknames, or more commonly his last name; I really had just used his name for the first time.

"Seriously?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Vincent stated simply, letting go of my wrist and offering me something of a small, sad smile from behind his cape. "You know, you're very articulate when you're angry."

With that, he stepped past me and started towards the door. What I'd said must have really gotten to him, because he'd dropped the earlier subject all of a sudden. I felt terrible. No, that was an understatement. The first time I'd ever called him by his name and I'd screamed it at him like some raving lunatic.

"Vincent…" I called softly; he stopped in his tracks, hanging his head slightly like he was ashamed. I don't know what I planned on saying; I'd never been big on apologies. I just wanted to say it again, to try and erase the fact I'd used it so harshly before.

When I didn't speak again, he took a few more slow steps forwards toward the door. "Wait," I said, in slight panic. For some reason it felt like I'd done something horribly wrong that I'd never be able to fix if I didn't do something right now. The only question was what to do. Vincent glanced back over his shoulder at me expectantly.

I knew, of course, what to say. It was the only thing I could offer in place of the apology I knew I should be giving but never could bring myself to say. I just didn't want to make things worse by admitting I'd lied to him a few minutes ago. The only way to get myself out of that situation was to lie again, but that should have been okay too. They were just little white lies. They'd probably never come back to bite me on the ass. "Vincent," I said again, just to assure myself I hadn't thrown away any chance of friendship with this man. I don't even know why I cared, but it seemed important at the time. Maybe because everyone else seemed to have lost their respect for me, or something. "I can still go ta Edge and do this delivery or whatever."

This caught his attention and he turned around again, taking a few steps closer and staring blankly at me. "And leave me at the lodge alone?"

There was nothing neither hopeful nor unhappy about his voice; he actually sounded a little sarcastic, something I hadn't heard from him before. I raised an eyebrow slightly but nodded anyway. "It's a bit against protocol. Ya know, in case ya run off or somethin…"

"And if I do?" This question, as so many of his seemed to be, sounded completely honest – I understood that he was probably genuinely just curious, although with anyone else I would have taken this as a sign to be suspicious that they were planning on doing so.

It shouldn't have been such a tough question, but it just felt so for me. Being with four people you had come to trust for many years and not having much else in the way of close contact with anyone except those you were to kill, or cheap chicks you wanted to sleep with for one night, opening up to anyone outside your circle was pretty tough. "I trust ya not to." I admitted slowly, looking down at the floor as I spoke. "But if ya did, I guess I'd just take the blame or something."

"I'm sure."

"Vincent," I said unsurely, stepping a little closer and staring him right in the eye. "I mean it."

The red-eyed man stared back at me silently for a moment, studying my eyes like they would tell him I was lying, or as if he was checking to see if I was intoxicated. With this thought in mind, I looked away slightly and raised the Cognac to my lips, tipping it up and taking a gulp.

Unfortunately it was the last mouthful in the bottle; the corners of my mouth twitched up in a slight smile as I looked at the bottle. It was probably a good thing I was going to Edge; I could buy myself a couple of tons of booze whilst I was out there.

As I looked back at Vincent again I found him still staring at me, although he glanced away too and sighed. "Her name is Shelke. She'll probably be at 7th Heaven helping Tifa with the bar, unless she has found her own accommodation since I last was in contact with her. Either way, Tifa should know where she is." He said, not meeting my eyes again. "Collect the package from Paragon Industries on Silence Street. To get to Paragon, you'll have to go through the black door beside the pharmacy. Pick the lock and-"

"Pick the lock?" I asked in surprise. I think I was more bothered by the fact I'd be breaking into something again that day than the fact that he'd asked me to do so but I still found it strange. I could only wonder what kind of place this was that I'd have to find my own way in rather than just ring a bell or knock.

"You're a Turk, Reno, I know you can do it. Just break in quietly, go down the first flight of stairs and tell the man at the desk that I sent you."

"And the package?"

"He will give it to you. Its contents are none of your business."

"Understood." I said with a slight smile. His explanation might have sounded a little curt, but to me it was saying only one thing… 'I trust you too.'

I don't know why, but I felt the happiest I'd felt in ages.

"Hey Vincent," I called as I powered up the chopper, after checking my motorbike was stowed securely in the second compartment. He stood a little way back, arms folded across his chest as he stared distantly into the trees. "What if this Shelke girl questions why I'm deliverin her this package and not you?"

He walked over slowly, seemingly considering the question. "Don't worry." He said with a twitch of a smile. "I shall call her when you leave and tell her you'll be bringing it."

"Yeah, but-"

"I'll say I am currently laid up and I hired you because you were the most disposable alternative."

"That's kind." I chuckled.

"I know." He said with a slight smirk. "Now get your ass to Edge before I kick it half way to the Mideel."

"Watch it, Vincent." I grinned, pausing with my hand on the door as I spoke. "I'm doin ya a favour here!"

I pulled the door shut, ushering him away with a wave of my hand so I wouldn't slice him in half when I started the blades. "Actually I consider it compensation for you stealing my cloak the other day." Vincent called though the glass, smiling up at me before he turned and walked back to where he'd been standing before.

That was the first genuine smile I'd seen from the man, ever. I was slightly dumbfounded as I pressed the switch to start the propellers. They roared into life, but I hardly noticed them as I watched him retreat. It was gone almost as fast as he was… I don't know why, but it stunned me. I wasn't too self-absorbed to admit that he had a beautiful smile. I only wish it wasn't so fleeting.

I felt like something had changed that afternoon between us, perhaps because I'd openly admitted to trusting him and he'd silently admitted the same, but suddenly it felt as if we'd stepped the line from just two people pushed together by the situation to friends. I wasn't sure how I actually felt about that, though. It had been a long time since I'd made a new friend – I know that sounds slightly pathetic, but it was true. Rude was probably the closest friend I'd ever had and the people I surrounded myself made up the rest of them, no matter how wrong we did by each other. Being a Turk and all, we never really got that many chances to make friends, and I'd not really had any as a kid either.

I didn't really mind. I didn't. It's just the way things were.

It wasn't until the lodge looked as tiny as a model on the ground below that I actually looked away. Luckily I'd done this take off routine so many times now that I didn't really even need to look at where I was going to know when I'd have to flip the controls before I stalled. Dragging my eyes away from the tiny cliff side, I wondered just what it was that kept me so captivated. I almost felt, I guess, like I was losing Vincent just as soon as we'd made friends. If we even had done so. The conversation should have been awkward after our surprisingly peaceful argument in the lodge, but it wasn't. It was almost as if a strange atmosphere had fallen over us like a thick cloud of smoke and now I found myself with a long flight ahead of me, and nothing to distract myself with. Except my thoughts, but I really didn't appreciate being left alone with them right now.

The flight to Edge didn't actually take that long – just over twenty minutes, due to strong tail winds that were probably going to make flying back later a bitch. I brought the chopper down a couple of miles east of the outskirts, where I knew of a rocky outcrop that would keep it as well hidden and sheltered from the elements as the trees did back at the lodge. Unloading my motorbike by myself was a little bit difficult, because Vincent had helped me lift it on at the other end and I hadn't thought to bring the wooden plank I usually used as a ramp.

I struggled to get it down, letting it bounce on its own back tire as I supported the front wheel from inside the chopper. Stupid thing was heavier than it needed to be because it was so damn old but even though I could afford a new one, I just wouldn't let go of it for aforementioned sentimental reasons.

I locked up the chopper quickly, making sure I had everything I would possibly need; hip flask, handgun, my lock pick, my EMR and a wallet full of money, plus a spare fuel canister for my motorcycle which I strapped to the back of the seat before I got on. With one final glance at my baby, I started the bike and sped away from it across the rocky landscape.

This close to Edge, all the landscape was dry and dead. A couple of miles east or north of the city would have me driving through green fields and over rolling hills but I was heading towards the dark shadow ahead of me. Years may have passed since Meteor but a dark cloud still seemed to hang above the area like a looming reminder of how close we all came to dying. It was funny, because from the city, the cloud gave off the opposite effect, like a beacon of hope as the natural light surrounding the destitute, dark area almost looked like a halo. As an outsider, because honestly that's what I was after all these years, I couldn't imagine how grim it would be to live there but still the people of Edge soldiered on, as inspiring to those who wished to give up entirely as ever.

The cracked, dry soil and the flat landscape made this leg of the journey swift and straight forward and twenty minutes later, I found myself coasting down the highway into the city. I stared off towards the mountains where the new ShinRa tower would be, deciding to carry out my errand quickly and then drive over there to check it out.

Edge had grown since I'd last been by a good seven or eight months ago. The city was expanding outwards towards the mountains and into the open plains to the north. I supposed this was Tuesti's work with his World Restoration Order. I didn't spare it all that much thought, because really I could care less for what happened to the people living here, but it was kind of interesting to see what Rufus' money was going towards.

Being the anonymous benefactor of the W.R.O had its benefits for Rufus, too. I suppose it eased his conscience slightly as he had often in the past talked about restoring the world and regretting that his fathers company had put it in the sorry state it was in. I think I could say for certain that he partially blamed himself, and that he honestly wanted to make a difference. However, keeping his donations incognito helped him uphold the fearsome façade he had created over the years and if I knew the man even a little, I'd say he was just playing his hand cautiously until the time came for him to reveal himself. I knew from experience that he could turn almost any situation around to his own advantage. Better than I could, obviously, otherwise I would never have wound up cowering slightly in his grip the week before.

I sped into the city, making my way to Midgul Edge North, where Silence Street was. I didn't pass many cars or bikes along the M6, but it was to be expected. Hardly anyone left the city they lived in, except to transport goods and visit relatives. I found it strange, that people never had the desire to travel; it was obviously a sorry state that the world was in if people were happy to be born, live and die in the same place. Whilst I'd grown up thinking I'd never get the opportunity to see the rest of the world, as soon as I'd started to do so I couldn't get enough of it. I'd never admit it to anyone but I savoured every journey I made back then, memorizing every new place I visited like it would disappear forever if I didn't. I wasn't so fervent about it anymore but I suppose that came from years of routine journeys and towns visited over and over again.

Silence Street came off the adjoining one at a strange angle. The disorganized layout of the roads here was as strange to me as their names. I don't know whether they were supposed to be inspiring or uplifting or something, but I honestly just thought they sounded stupid. 'Team Street' and 'Colour Street' were somewhat acceptable but 'Find the Way Street' was bordering on ridiculous. Coincidentally, that was the road I found myself driving down.

I took a left into Silence Street and pulled up beside the pharmacy. True to Vincent's word, an inconspicuous black door stood to the left of it, with a small label saying 'Paragon Industries' in smudged handwriting. Even though he'd told me it was none of my business, I was curious as to what kind of package I could possibly be picking up from this place. Checking around myself quickly to make sure no one was watching me, I pulled the lock pick out from my jacket pocket and got to work. I was never going to find out if I didn't go inside, at least. I only hoped the inside wasn't as furtive as the door so I could get some answers without having to look inside whatever I was delivering. Doing so would probably be part of my assignment, if that had been one in the first place. Really, I was just interested.

And with good reason too. The place looked a little too surreptitious inside. The walls were as black as the door as I made my way down the stairs, dimly lit by an orange light at the bottom, which was all I had to signify the general direction I was supposed to be going in. If you asked me, it looked more like a terrorist hideout than the headquarters of a company, but I guess no one was asking me so I kept my cool and entered the dully lit room.

Inside there was just a desk, two long black leather couches on either side and two further doors with small, reinforced windows in the middle of them, the whole room painted a steel grey. A computer sat on the desk and something was taped to the wood, as well as couple of stacked box files, but no one sat behind it. I noted a security camera in either corner above the doors, pointing at the desk and the entrance. The orange light was a naked bulb hanging from the ceiling above me. The whole damn place gave me the creeps – it reminded me of the old interrogation chambers in the ShinRa Tower, where Scarlet had almost fried Tifa to death in the electric chair on public television four years ago. I'd been in those chambers several times, four or five times as the interrogator and the others as the captive myself. Rufus' father had a habit of dealing out his punishments in there.

Cautiously I made my way over to the desk, suspicious of some kind of trap. I did trust Vincent, but there was the slim possibility this whole trip had been a set up and I was about to be attacked or taken captive. Besides, it was my job to be over cautious and distrustful of everything I encountered. I kept my hand on my mag-rod, which was slung through my belt, just in case.

I reached the desk unharmed, although I don't consider that much of an achievement because it was fourteen measly steps. I lowered my guard just a fraction, focussing on the paper taped down to the surface of the desk. It read 'Welcome to Paragon – Biotech Panacea. Please take a seat'. I glanced across the room at the two leather couches and then up at the security cameras, wondering what they meant by Biotech Panacea and whether I should follow the instruction on the paper.

After examining one of the couches, I decided it was safe to do so and sat down, staring distantly at the opposite wall, wondering exactly how I'd managed to wind up in a place like this. I should have just let Vincent come for himself.

I was only sitting there for a couple of minutes, however, until the door closest to me opened and a short man walked out through it and over to the desk. Glancing suspiciously at the cameras again and getting up, I studied the stranger carefully. When I say short, I mean he was short. Hell, Strife stood a whole head shorter than me and I wasn't the tallest man in the world, but this guy was at least six or seven inches shorter still. Young, too. His hair was blonde, but not blonde like Rufus and lighter even than Elena – it looked bleached and was cropped short almost to his scalp. Definitely not natural, since even in this poor light his eyes looked too dark to be any shade of blue. He was staring right back at me as I stopped by the desk and looked down at him.

"Yeah?" He asked, in a bored, deep voice that didn't suit his childlike stature. I was tempted just to ask him how old he was but that really wasn't going to get me this damn package and the sooner I got out of here the better.

"Vincent Valentine sent me." I explained, matching his bored tone and staring him down. To my surprise, he simply sniggered and stooped down below the desk. I wasn't used to people laughing in my face when I glared at them; usually my victims would cower in fear. I actually had to remind myself I wasn't here to torment this diminutive man.

"Nice 'air…'E always hadda thing fer red," came the mumbled voice from under the desk. I looked down at the wood sharply, noting the thick slum accent but ignoring it for now in favour of finding out if my ears had just deceived me.

"Pardon?" I asked coldly as he stood again, brushing off his knees.

"I said, 'ere's yer parcel..." The man snickered, pushing the tightly wrapped bundle he was holding across the desk. "Y'need ta sign fer it."

I held my tongue as he pulled a black folder out from one of the drawers in the desk and opened it, handing me a chewed up biro. I looked at him in disgust and pulled a pen of my own from the inner pocket of my jacket. I always had one on me for situations like this, along with a few other handy things and usually a full hip flask, although obviously not today because I'd run out of alcohol. "Here?"

"Yeah." The blonde answered sarcastically, rolling his eyes and tapping his nails on the desk impatiently. Keeping my eyes on him as I did so and my free hand on the package, I signed my name silently and tucked my pen away again. "That it?"

"Only one name?" He asked curiously, turning the folder round to look at it.

"Ya got a problem with that?" I snapped back at him, picking up the small package and shoving it half into one of my jacket pockets. "Don' mock tha accent," The man called after me as I turned to leave.

"Wasn't!" I yelled back over my shoulder, flicking up my middle finger behind me and jogging back up the dark staircase. I was glad to be getting out of that place. I unlatched the door and slipped out again, slamming it shut behind me before I returned to my bike that I was actually surprised to find unharmed. I'd half-expected some lackey to creep out while I was inside and slash my tires, or something. With one final glance back at the door, I put the whole strange experience out of my mind as I sped back up the street towards 7th Heaven.

Tifa's bar was somewhere I'd always been happy to leave my bike. It was well known across Edge that she was one of the heroes that had fought Sephiroth four years ago and helped put a stop to the end of the world, and so she didn't really have much in the way of enemies. Except, you know, us, but the Turks had stopped playing the role of the villain some time ago now and Tifa and I got on pretty well so I could trust her and the people that looked up to her to keep my bike from getting stolen or vandalized. I appreciated it.

When I stepped inside, it occurred to me for the first time that I had no idea who I was looking for to give this package to. Frowning as I looked around the room, I remembered Vincent saying Tifa should know and chanced taking a seat at the bar next to some rough looking teenage girl with green hair to her waist. I watched her down her drink with wide eyes before I turned my attention to the brunette behind the bar.

Tifa actually looked surprised to see me as she refilled the girl's glass. "Well, well," she said with a smile, leaning over the counter on her elbows. "It's been a while, Reno. What can I get you?"

I'd always liked Tifa – she was a tough girl, like Elena. I liked that. There was nothing worse than a girl getting all whiney and well, girly on you. It happened to me a lot with girls in the past. When I found one I liked – pretty, good in bed – and decided to stick around and get a second round of fun out of them, they seemed to start getting clingy, like they wanted a relationship. I just didn't do relationships. I hadn't had a proper relationship since my second year at ShinRa and that really wasn't much of one because I ran off the second she started wanting to spend more time with me. I guess you could say I have a habit of running from my problems, but doesn't everyone? It's not like I'm going to just turn around to a girl and say 'sorry, I don't like commitment' and explain my reasons. Anyway, Tifa wasn't like that. And she wasn't a brute either, like some strong women are, ready to break your neck the second you tried it on with them. Not to say I was into her or anything, because even though she was really pretty and all, I knew Rude was into her at one point and probably still was because he was the kind of guy who'd harbour his feelings for a long time and never really act on them. Even if I did like Tifa, I could never do that to a friend; plenty more fish in the sea, anyway, so it's hardly like it was an issue.

I smiled back at her, amused by her assumption that I was only there to drink. Then again, I normally was. "Jack, straight, on the rocks." I said quickly, knowing it was only a formality, unless she really had forgotten after all this time. I always started with a straight bourbon when I went to a bar; it had been a habit of mine since I'd gotten my first ShinRa paycheck because it was a luxury I could never afford before hand. The price of a glass of a nice, quality bourbon like Jack was about the equivalent of a bottle of nastiest, cheapest stuff you'd pick up in the slums. Now, occasionally I liked the cheap stuff – took me back to my roots, was strong enough to hit me where it really counted, burned my throat and cleansed my soul. But given the choice, I really loved the smoothest, richest quality drink my money could buy. "I'm looking for someone." I added hesitantly.

"It wouldn't happen to be Cloud, would it?" She chuckled expectantly as she poured my drink. "Because he's not here right now."

"Spiky? Nah." I shook my head, laughing lightly as I glanced around the room again. "Where's he at?"

"I don't know." Tifa shrugged, stooping to the ice bucket below the counter. I knew where almost everything was kept in this bar – unless of course it had changed since I'd last been here – because I used to frequent it so often. "Perhaps at the church. We haven't seen anyone around much lately. Barret's busy with his oil business, Cloud's always wandering off somewhere… Vincent's been missing for a while, but that's hardly unusual." She said, making idle chatter, and I could have laughed about the last person she'd mentioned but for some ridiculous, cruel reason this was the moment the image of Vincent in my bathroom in a towel chose to spring back into my mind and I'm glad she was preoccupied with the ice because I felt my cheeks heat up slightly. I didn't blush because I never blushed; blushing is for girls and shit. But it was still an embarrassing memory. It's hardly like I wanted to explain the reason why what she'd said bothered me because I don't think Tifa would be the most approving person if she found out Vincent was staying with us and I'd been busy ogling him. By accident.

"Who're you looking for then? Perhaps I can help." Tifa offered with a smile, sliding my drink across the counter to me. "Drink is on the house, for an old friend I haven't seen in months."

"Old friend? Are ya sure?" I grinned at her, taking the glass and knocking it all back in one long gulp. Ah, got to love the sting whiskey leaves at the back of your throat. "Perhaps ya can. Uh, her names Shelke?"

Tifa was laughing softly but the sound dropped away when I mentioned Shelke, like someone had turned the volume right off. Her dark eyes hardened and she drew her lips tighter as I put the glass back down on the bar. "What does ShinRa want with-"

"Reno Sinclair," came the slow, young voice that cut her off. I turned in surprise at the name, staring at the young girl standing by my chair suspiciously. She looked up at me without blinking, a slight smile on her face and her blue eyes wide and dancing with Mako in the dim light. I'd definitely seen her somewhere before… "I've been expecting you."

"Whoa, kiddo, where'd ya get that name?" I asked awkwardly, glancing apprehensively back at Tifa.

"Shelke's not as young as she looks, Reno, believe me." Tifa said with a quiet laugh, although her eyes were still defensive. I'm sure she made a damn good mom to those two kids she looked after.

"Yer Shelke, then?" I asked, eyeing the girl again, and she smiled slightly.

"Correct. Follow me, please, Reno Sinclair."

I frowned, pulling the package from my pocket. "Follow you? Can't I jus give ya this? Yer package, right? Consider it delivered… Seriously though, drop the formality…" I groaned, pushing the package into her hands. "Another drink if ya will, Tifa."

"I have to make sure it is correct." Shelke informed me softly. Her manner would have really creeped me out if her voice wasn't so gentle, but as it was, I could deal with it. I was just still wondering why in hell I recognized her. She couldn't have been older than ten… or at least, didn't look it, because Tifa had said she was older than she looked.

"Okay, okay. Jus a second so I can get myself something strong. Make it double, would you, Tifa?"

"Sure, Reno. So what's this, you've given up being a Turk?" Tifa asked as she filled my drink and took the tray the girl handed her. I hadn't even noticed Shelke was holding it until she passed it over but I could only assume she worked here now too, or something. Not that she'd have to be sixteen or anything to work here; some days when I'd dropped by it had been the little girl Tifa cared for tending the bar. I was just really curious as to how old she was and I was going to have to ask at some point.

I chuckled, taking the glass from her as I slipped off the bar stool, and flashed her an award winning smile as I followed the strange, orange-haired girl across the room. "Ya better believe it. I'm a delivery boy now too, don' ya know? Better tell Spiky he's got competition! Start me a tab again, for this!" I yelled back over my shoulder, waving the drink towards her, before joining Shelke as she slipped into one of the booths. I could hear Tifa laughing again as I sat, and decided it was a really lovely sound.

"How'd ya know my name, kiddo?" I just couldn't resist asking. No one had called me that in a long, long time. I'd dropped my last name before I'd even become a Turk, and besides my birth certificate – if I had one – there shouldn't have been any record of it at all.

Shelke, however, only smiled at me and started opening her package. "Lanky, noisy, obscene, flaming hair." She said eventually, pulling back the top of the paper easily and poking around inside. "That's what Vincent Valentine said. But you're a Turk?"

"I am, yeah." I admitted, shrugging slightly. That was a nice way to describe me… I'd have to thank the man for that later. "Why?"

"He said you were disposable." I actually laughed out loud as she said this, because it seemed Vincent had really meant it when he said he'd tell her that. She looked up at me in slight surprise. "No?"

"Perhaps ta him." I chuckled, rolling my shoulders back.

"And not to me? Funny, I always considered us more powerful a department than the Turks before the company fell apart." Shelke said casually, tipping up the open package to look inside. I eyed her suspiciously as I took a sip of my drink, because surely what she'd just said was nonsense.

"'Us'? Who is 'Us'?"

"Deepground, naturally, Reno Sinclair." She sighed, closing the package again, seemingly satisfied with its contents. "Five years ago I could have obliterated you in battle, although I'm not sure anymore. I have been degrading recently without regular Mako treatments."

"Hang on, what? Five years ago? Yer what, ten?" I questioned in utter confusion. Of course, it would make sense as to how I recognized her but that connection did not make up for all the faults in her suggestion.

"I am nineteen years old." She informed me, looking up slowly. "I did not realize you had forgotten. You were among the team that kidnapped me ten years ago. Of course, I was very different then." Shelke said thoughtfully, shaking the package at me and adding as an afterthought with a small smile, "To counteract the degradation. Thank you, Reno Sinclair, that is all I need."

"Huh?" I said dumbly, not taking my eyes off her as she stood up and slid out of the booth. I didn't recall anything she was talking about and the more she told me, the more confused I was getting. I was almost glad she was going before my brain overheated.

"You looked curious." She said without turning back, shaking the package a second time and disappearing through the door that lead to the apartment above the bar.

Deepground… I didn't really know much about Deepground. They'd been something of a secret organization within ShinRa, controlled mainly by that crackpot scientist Hojo. I doubt any of the executives of the old world ShinRa knew much either, because the man seemed to get a lot of free reign when it came to what he was and wasn't allowed to experiment with. And who. Cloud pleads the latter.

I should have been able to remember the kidnapping though; I only hoped I wasn't losing my memory because that wasn't going to ease my musings about how old I was getting. Not that twenty-five was old, because it wasn't.

I finished my drink quickly, eager to get out of there now and back out on the open road where I could let my thoughts get swept away in the cold wind. Taking my glass back to the bar, I gave Tifa a friendly wink and headed outside.

Which is where I encountered my first major problem of the night. It was dark out, and my motorbike wouldn't start. I quickly gauged that it was out of fuel, which wouldn't have been a problem if the spare canister tied to the bike wasn't currently leaking all over the parking lot and trailing back out into the road. Actually, from the looks of things, it had been dripping for a while because I could see a trail of oil running all the way up the moonlit street. Maybe it had been sabotaged outside that Paragon place… or perhaps I was just absolutely foolish. Either way, I had no fuel on me now, and the rest was back in the helicopter. Letting out a long, exasperated sigh I headed back inside. I was never going get to the construction site at this rate.

"Tifa, 'nother drink." I called across the small bar as I crossed to it again, grateful it wasn't busy tonight so I wouldn't be making a fool out of myself.

"Oh?" She asked, complying anyway, as I leant over the bar.

"This time I am looking for Cloud." I chuckled as she chipped some ice into the glass. "Unless you have any spare fuel."

She shook her head, pausing before she poured my drink and smiling slightly. "Out of gas? Pretty silly of you for such a long journey, huh? I don't have any, but if you're looking for Cloud, the church is probably your best bet."

"In Sector 5?" I asked, although I was pretty certain already, seeing as it was the only church around, and also the place Cloud had spent two years of his life after Meteor, mourning that Aeris girl.

"You know that. Are you paying for this drink, or what?"

"Tab, I said! Start me a new one."

"So you're planning on becoming a regular again, Reno? I'll start a tab but you're paying it monthly this time, okay? Do you…" She asked thoughtfully, holding out the whiskey. "Want to just take the bottle?"

I grinned, taking it from her and winking again. "Thanks, pretty lady. I'll pay, I swear." I chuckled, turning for the door once again. "Ya know me too well. Well enough ta predict I'll probably be back again tonight."

"If you're coming back, try and get Cloud home!" She called after me hopefully as I stepped outside.

I was surprised by how much debris had been cleared away from the old Midgar slums as I passed through them on foot; they'd never been clean but after Weapon's attack and the aftermath of Meteor, they'd been destroyed almost completely. Whatever Reeve Tuesti was planning here, it looked like it was certainly going well for him.

It took me a good half hour and half a pack of cigarettes to walk to the old Sector 5 church, even though I'd decided to run the last half-mile because honestly, walking was boring. Predictably, Cloud's bike was parked outside by the steps and I smiled to myself, sure I was going find what I needed here. I lit up a last cigarette dragging on it deeply; I wasn't a holy man but despite the fact I was slightly drunk, I still didn't think it would be right to smoke inside the church. I leant on Fenrir as I smoked, cooling off from my run. The bike was a sure fire sign he was in there because he was as protective as me about leaving the machine unattended somewhere. I only knew because I'd tried to steal it once before – not really, really steal it, I only wanted to try it out but I ended up with a big freaking sword pinning me to the nearest wall by my shirt. Yep, another shirt ruined.

Putting out my cigarette on the stone steps, I pushed the heavy door open and walked down the aisle past all the broken pews, looking down each row to make sure nothing was hiding there, Cloud or otherwise. I stopped at the big pool of water that had once been the patch of flowers I'd tread on a few years ago and smiled nostalgically. Okay, so standing on Aeris' flowers whilst attempting to kidnap her shouldn't have been the happiest memory but it made me smile all the same. Those were simpler times for ShinRa – before Sephiroth rose from his own grave and killed Rufus' father, before the world had almost ended, more than once, before… before it felt like all my close companions were lying to me or getting sick.

"Reno."

Looking back over my shoulder at the sound of my name, I was surprised to find Cloud standing right behind me, having no idea which direction he'd come from or anything. I guess I'd just gotten two caught up in my thoughts just then to notice him coming – it was only Cloud I was looking for, after all. The guy was dangerous to anyone who got stupid about his precious planet, but probably about as much of a threat to me as a tiny little kitten and so I was hardly on guard.

"Hey, Spiky." I smiled at him, glancing at the water again and then turning to face the blonde. He looked tired. His bright eyes were wide, and darker than I remembered them, and his hair had grown since I'd last seen him. His bangs hung right over his eyes now, the flat spikes on top of his head a little limper with the extra weight, and dirty too. It seemed unlike the man to let himself get into a state like this. It made me wonder – "How long since ya been back home?"

"Why are you here?" He asked sharply, ignoring my question as his mako blue eyes studied my face carefully, before he just turned and started walking away from me.

"Tifa sent me." I shrugged, following him. "I need fuel, and she misses ya, or somethin. Reckon ya could help me out?"

The blonde stopped and looked at me again, as I took a swig from the bottle Tifa had given me. I'd been nursing it all the time on the walk here and was, to say the least, a little tipsy. "I don't have any. Only what's in my bike."

"Aw, damn. How the hell 'm I sposed ta get home now?" I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"I can get you some in the morning. Tifa can put you up for the night."

I considered his offer for a moment, actually banking it as a possible option but it had been over a week since I was put in charge of the lodge and the others could be back any day now. If they came back and found Vincent alone, the shit really would hit the fan. "Nice of ya ta say but I really gotta get back tonight…" I frowned, tapping my chin. "Reckon ya could jus take me ta the chopper? Is jus a lil' way outta Edge."

Cloud watched me a moment longer and a smile twitched at the corners of his lips, which I found myself staring at and comparing to Vincent's. "Are you drunk, Reno?"

"Almost." I laughed, taking another swig from the bottle. I probably was, if only judging by the fact I'd been staring at his lips a moment earlier. They weren't as feminine as Vincent's, but they were still quite plump and actually a little more pink… not that I'd managed to notice the colour of Vincent's lips, at least consciously, before. "But I do gotta get back."

I was well aware that my accent was getting worse the more I drank, and Cloud seemed to find it quite amusing. Funny, I'd only ever seen him laugh or smile around me when it was just the two of us; I did wonder sometimes if it was because of me or if the guy had a complex about being around too many people. The latter seemed more likely, since we'd been sworn enemies for a while simply because, well, our first meeting pretty much threw us in the deep end there, with rocks tied to our feet. Nothing said 'best friends forever' like a degrading church and a mission to kidnap the last remaining ancient. Not to mention trying to kill him several hours later and dropping part of a city on his friends… Regardless, I liked seeing a smile on his face, if only because I knew that we'd been through just about as much shit as each other in our lives, albeit different shit. He'd spent – and judging from his slightly haggard appearance was still spending – so many years mourning and trying to forgive himself for things he hadn't even done and he deserved a little happiness everyone once in a while. It's a shame not everyone had the 'leave the past in the past' mentality that I did, because I think a lot of people would be a lot happier that way. "Alright. Pass me that bottle."

The blonde and me had been something of drinking buddies before, in the couple of months between the incident with the remnants and the Deepground upsurge, and I did as he asked, happily passing him the whiskey in favour of recalling old times – not that drinking with Cloud had ever been much of a party, but I seemed to be having a nostalgic evening so I just ran with it. He held onto the bottle, swigging it back several times as I followed him to his bike, and there he passed it back to me with something of a twisted smirk on his pale face. "From Tifa?"

"I consider it a gift." I laughed, standing by the bike as he'd fired it up. I stared up at the stars shining down through gaps in the smoggy haze above us; it was amazing to me, to be able to see stars from a street I had known so well in the slums growing up because obviously, the plate had blocked the night sky from view. If I were any more of a sap, I'd say I'd treasure this moment but I wasn't. Besides, I could see stars from all over the place now. I could travel half way round the world just to look at the stars, if I wanted to.

The engine rumbled like a distant stampede and Cloud grabbed my arm and tugged it to get me to I'd climb on, because I'd managed to get myself lost in thought again; the second time in five minutes – what a thrill. Must have been going senile already. "You want me to drive you or not?" He sighed, taking the bottle once more before he revved up. "Hang the hell on, Reno." The seat of Cloud's motorbike was one hell of a lot comfier than mine and for a brief moment I entertained the thought that maybe it really was time to upgrade my bike, but I knew deep down I never would. I sank down into the cushioned leather, enjoying the comfort whilst I could. Perhaps just giving my bike a new seat wouldn't be a terrible way to spend my money. It would only go on booze otherwise anyway. There's not a lot of other things I spent my paycheck on – alcohol, cigarettes, the occasional hooker in the past.

I draped an arm around his waist awkwardly, gripping the neck of the whiskey as he shot off down the road, but quickly I found my slack grip tightening as I almost flew backwards off the bike. Cloud didn't seem in the slightest bit phased, and I couldn't really lift the bottle to my lips or light a cigarette like this so I wrapped my other arm around his stomach too and clung on for dear life. I loved riding a motorcycle, but damn, being on the back of one was horrible. That loss of control made me feel vulnerable as hell and I'd opt for clinging to Cloud's waist over tumbling backwards off the bike into the dirt at 60mph any day, as weird as I felt doing it.

The walk that had taken me half an hour from Team Street where the bar was to Sector 5 took us five minutes in the other direction and soon Cloud was pulling up into the parking lot right beside my own bike. I jumped off before he'd even stopped moving in favour of not holding onto him a moment longer than I had to because I really wasn't that drunk… I'd never been a clingy drunk anyway, more the type to go get myself into a really rough fight just for the thrill of getting the crap beaten out of me and being able to inspect all my pretty bruises the next day. Not that Cloud was an ugly man, and I'm sure if I'd been a woman I would have been as hung up over him as Tifa used to be. But you know, I wasn't.

I'd heard, from Cloud in fact, that the two of them had actually tried to have a relationship once they'd settled down in Edge with those orphans they lived with. He said nothing much had happened between them, and he wasn't really interested, but they'd gotten engaged anyway, for the sake of the kids. To try and give them a real family, or some nonsense like that. Far as I saw it, kids didn't need a real family. It was the streets that would teach them what they needed in life; that's how I'd learned and I'd turned out just fine. Eventually.

I'd thought it had all fallen through because Cloud had been too hung up on that Aeris girl, and that was all sorted out after she cured Geostigma from beyond the grave or whatever it was she did, but after seeing Cloud today I started to wonder again; either he was still having some serious problems letting go or something else was troubling him. Perhaps I'd make the effort to find out what was wrong, if the two of us were stopping at the bar… Hang on. "Why we here fer?"

Cloud glanced over his shoulder at me as I followed him inside, pointing at the almost empty bottle in my hand. "I figured we were going to need another one of those if we're making this damn trip." He sighed, but he still sounded slightly amused. I'd still bet it was my accent making him laugh. He probably hadn't heard a slum accent that bad in years… but I just couldn't help it sometimes, when I'd been drinking.

"Sounds good ta me."

He opened his mouth to speak again as I necked the remaining contents of the bottle, but was quickly cut off by a cry of his name.

"Cloud! You're home!"

I hardly saw the small brown shape catapult itself but the next thing I knew, Cloud tumbled back into me and suddenly had an armful of ten year old. I don't think he saw her coming either because he was staring down at the grinning girl with wide eyes as I righted the both of us before we all fell to the floor.

"Marlene," he said warmly, but I could still hear the annoyed undertone in his voice. I think he honestly did really care about his 'family' as it were, but they genuinely did seem to irritate him. It was a shame, really. I still remembered when Kadaj's gang kidnapped the kids and the look on his face as he'd fought a silent struggle with himself over what to do. I think he'd almost completely given up back then and accepted that he was going to die from the stigma, but in the end it seemed he cared too much to condemn them to death too. Although I think it might have helped his decision that I flat-out refused to help him. "You're getting a little big to be jumping on me like that."

Marlene giggled and grinned impossibly wider, flinging her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly before she hopped down and catapulted across the room again.

"Tifa! Tifa! Cloud's home!"

I chuckled as I passed the bothered blonde and headed towards the bar where the small girl had hurtled off to, wielding my empty bottle. "Kids ey, Strife? Hope I never have 'em."

"I didn't choose to." He muttered as I took a seat on one of the barstools, opting to lean over the bar beside me, stretching his arms out across it lazily. I laughed again, as Tifa came up to us with the girl in tow.

"Cloud, you're back." She said softly, smiling at him before she looked up at me. "I see he's being Mr. Cheery as usual. Nice to see you again, Reno."

"Said I'd be back, didn' I?" I smiled, passing her the empty bottle like she had a better use for it than me. "Woulddit be too cheeky ta ask fer a refill?"

"Are you sure, Reno? If you're going to be driving…"

"Cloud didn' 'ave fuel." I informed her, rolling my eyes. "So 'e's takin me 'ome on 'is bike."

"I said I'd take you as far as your helicopter, Reno." Cloud groaned, scuffing his boot on the floor.

"Chopper 'is 'ome." I laughed, nudging him with my elbow. I was trying to get him to smile again, I guess, although I all but knew for certain that my attempts were in vain because I'd never been able to make him smile in front of the people he called his friends. It was almost like he couldn't let them know he was really human, or something.

"You live in your helicopter?" Piped up the curious, disbelieving voice of Cloud's little girl; I looked round sharply at her and wiggled my eyebrows.

"Course! Ya sound shocked." I lied, poking out my tongue. "Why not, Marlene? Gets me where I need ta go, is comfy…"

She giggled and hid behind Tifa slightly as she finished serving another customer, brown eyes peering up me like a timid puppy or a deer or something like that; I wasn't really in the state of mind to be comparing little girls to animals successfully.

"I guess you must have to, since you've quit Shinra to be a delivery boy now, huh?" Tifa laughed, tousling the girl's hair absently as she beamed at me.

"What?" Cloud asked curiously, not really looking at anything.

"Tha's right, Strife! I figured since ya not tryin' ta kill me anymore, I gotta find some other way ta compete with ya! Puma's better than ya bike, takes me anywhere!" I grinned at him, as he glanced sideways at me. I knew he could tell I was bullshitting, so no harm done there. "Perhaps lil' Marlene would even like ta come fer a ride sometime!"

I honestly had no idea why I'd just made that offer, because really I was just rambling on and trying to bug Cloud. I made a habit out of irritating him; I guess I just liked making trouble for myself, or something. Like that time after Weapons attack on Midgar when I thought Rufus had kicked the bucket, but still took it upon myself to start a fight with Avalanche when they returned to Midgar anyway, like it was still my job even after ShinRa had fallen.

"Maybe when she's a little older," Tifa smiled and stooped down to Marlene, telling her essentially, although in kinder words, to go bug Shelke instead. I snorted with laughter and leant my head on the bar.

"You'd make a good father you know." Cloud mused quietly when Tifa had her back turned. I raised an eyebrow at him and shook my head. No way, he did not just say that. Me, a good father? The idea was obscene.

"I'd take that as a compliment, Strife, 'cept it's comin from you."

"What?"

"Oh, nothin. Yer such a great father, that ya got every right ta judge who else would be…" I sniggered, as Tifa turned back to us and held out the new bottle of whiskey.

Cloud scoffed, all but snatching the drink from Tifa and turning to the door. "We should get going."

"Fine with me!" I sighed, throwing up my hands slightly. How we'd managed to turn the joke into something of a fight was beyond me but that's how it always was between Cloud and me. We'd scarcely talk, and when we did it'd go from friendly to feral and back again in a manner of minutes. Not that I minded in the slightest, because company was company all the same. I'd never really been in a position to pick and choose what kind I'd like.

I smirked at Tifa as she reminded me to come back and pay my tab some time; I waved slightly in a simple goodbye before I slid down off the bar stool and went to follow him. Before he'd even made it to the door, I'd snatched the whiskey from him.

"Cloud," she called after the blonde as we crossed the room. He said nothing, stopping in his tracks and not even bothering to look round. "When will you be home again?"

He looked up slowly and regretfully over his shoulder, but didn't say a word as he continued out the door. I shot Tifa a sympathetic look as I followed him, not really wanting to intervene with whatever the hell was going on here. Hell, I was having a hard enough time dealing with my own shit lately, so I don't think I'd do too well meddling in anyone else's. Especially when I was drunk. With that thought, I opened the new bottle of whiskey.

"Yanno Spiky," I said, stumbling down the front steps of 7th Heaven and catching his arm to steady myself. He shook me off and shot me a murderous look as he got onto the bike. "We don' gotta go right now."

"Don't call me that." He snapped, shoving his keys into the ignition.

"Le's hang out in Edge fer a bit. Whaddya say?" I laughed, taking a swig from the bottle as I leant against the back of his bike and fumbled around in my pockets for my cigarettes. The idea of going home again just to hang out by myself with my deck of cards wasn't too appealing.

"You're drunk."

"I know! And ya should be drunk! C'mon Strife, live a lil'." I extracted my lighter from the inside pocket of my jacket, clamping a cigarette between my teeth and going to light it, only to have Cloud grab my wrist and take it from me.

"Don't light that here." He warned me, putting the lighter in his own pocket so I couldn't take it back. I frowned at him, searching for another one or a match, or something that could help me burn that precious cancer stick. "There's fuel all over the ground. You'll set the damn place on fire." He added as I huffed at him.

"I need that…" I mumbled through closed lips, my search coming up unsuccessful. I frowned, putting the cigarette back with the rest of my slowly diminishing supply of cigarettes. "Fuck, runnin out. Can we make another pit stop, Spiky?"

"Stop calling me that, Reno!" Cloud growled, grabbing my arm and pulling me onto the bike himself. Most of the time, when Cloud snapped at me, I couldn't resist bothering him further and I could always tell he wasn't really angry at me, just irritated – and I did irritate him on purpose. Just now, however, he sounded a little more serious. Not that I'd ever agree to stop calling him that, because as far as I was concerned it was an alright nickname and seeing as I'd come up with it, I was quite attached to it. Don't know what his problem with it was, because 'Spiky' sure as hell sounded a lot more dangerous and interesting than 'Cloud', at least in my opinion. "Yes, okay? Let's go."

I grinned triumphantly, taking another swig as I held onto his waist again. I held the bottle up to his lips, leaning out to the side so I could see his face properly. He looked down at the bottle, his eyes unamused at the idea I wanted him to drink from it while I was still holding it, and snatched it out of my hand to drink for himself. "Tha's more like it." I chuckled, taking it back as he started the bike. "Le's go!"

He drove somewhat slower than he had on the way to the bar, turning down some of the smaller twisting roads out of the maze that was Midgul Edge, until we came to an off license in the poorer district. I think he might have been worried I would actually fall off the back this time if he drove any faster because necking straight whiskey didn't really do much for your coordination skills. Luckily for me, years of honing my alcohol abuse to a tee had made me a pretty competent drunk to the point where I could be pretty much this wasted on the field and still complete my assignments. I probably shouldn't have let myself get so wasted but it had happened by accident when I was wandering to Sector 5 and I guess I had to give up all hope of checking out the construction site now. When we eventually reached the chopper, I'd not be able to fly her in this state – it's not that I couldn't, more that I wouldn't in fear of her getting damaged – so I guess I'd just have to sit around and wait until I was sober enough and fly home fast as I could. I should have stopped drinking at that point so I'd sober up faster but the notion that I'd get to hang out in the city with Cloud for a while instead of sitting at home playing solitaire or watching TV again was too enticing. I passed him the bottle as I got off the bike, telling him I'd only be a minute inside.

The shop was as grimy as any you'd find in the area, except that it was actually a shop and not just a stand in the street like the shops further into the Slums were. Not that many people lived in the Slums anymore – the ones that weren't crushed with parts of the plate or uninhabitable – because of Reeve's work but there were still people too poor to move out into Edge and the area had only gotten rougher since Meteor. The man behind the counter was hacking up something terrible as I stepped up to the counter and it was a few moments before he even looked at me. "Yeah?"

"20 pack of Fury Brand an' a lighter." I said, nodding my head at him slightly and tugging my wallet out of my pants.

"That'll be 7 gil." The shopkeeper said, coughing up a storm again as he slid the items across the counter. It was so damn cheap I would have bought a truckload of them if I hadn't been with Cloud, but as it stood I had nowhere to put them.

"That uniform. You a Turk?" someone said behind me. I glanced over my shoulder as I paid the shopkeeper, raising an eyebrow at the stranger.

"Wha's it ta you?" I frowned, taking my cigarettes and turning round to face the punk who'd asked. I've said it before; people were still bitter towards the company for it's regime in the past.

"You got no business comin' round here! ShinRa ain't got no power anymore." The boy snarled. He must have been about seventeen, eighteen maybe. I snorted out a laugh, pulling out a cigarette from my new packet, since I much preferred Fury Brand to the crap I was smoking before anyway.

"The hell's yer problem? I go where the hell I want," I scoffed, stuffing it in my mouth.

"I'm telling ya to stay the hell out of our city. You've done enough damage already, Shinra scum!" The kid pushed me. He freaking pushed me, and I dropped my cigarette before I could light it.

My eyes locked onto him and I growled angrily, grabbing the collar of his shirt and almost lifting him from the ground. "I was gonna smoke that!" I yelled, throwing him back against the cooler behind him. I think I threw him a little hard, because I'd only meant to rough him up a little and put him in his place but he yelped in pain as he hit it; I guess I misjudged because I was drunk, or something.

"Watch it!" Snapped the shopkeeper, but I ignored him as the kid righted himself and rubbed his back, glaring daggers at me. I smirked, amused by the simple anger on his face, but seconds later he was throwing a punch my way and yelling something dramatic and threatening. I made no move to dodge his fist, refusing to be intimidated by a little brat who thought he was all high and holy, and wound up getting hit in the jaw. My teeth sank into my lip, splitting it open and filling my mouth with the metallic taste of blood – I'd always liked the taste of my own blood – which pooled out and dribbled down my chin, but I just steadied myself and laughed right in his face. "That all ya got?" I slurred, wiping my chin on the back of my hand as he readied a second punch.

"Jimmy!" The shopkeeper yelled at the punk kid, coming round the counter, and staring at us as he headed up to the back of the room. "Not in the shop! Take it outside, will ya?"

"Dupe's a Turk, Eric!" The kid snarled, going to hit me again. This time I did dodge it, stepping out the way at the last second. "Bastard killed Molly in sector 7!"

"Yep, that was yers truly," I laughed, sidestepping as the kid tried to jump me like a feral animal. If this was gonna turn into a full-on fight, I was gonna let it, cause I was drunk and always liked a good fight when I was wasted.

"You're the bastard that killed my sister?"

The shopkeeper had turned on me now, coming back down to the front of the shop. Still, I was amused by the situation. Dropping the plate on Sector 7 was not my proudest moment; we knew a lot of innocent people were going to die when we did it but a job was a job and it was supposed to kill Cloud and his lot and eradicate ShinRa's biggest threat. I'd agreed to do it, well, honestly because I'm a little screwed up in the head, or something. I didn't like to kill innocents but I think some twisted part of my mind really wanted to bury my past under a heap of rubble. The whole 'leaving the past in the past' thing was definitely easier when there was no one around to remind me of it, because everyone was dead. I liked that; everyone from my past was dead. Dead and buried under 6 feet of broken concrete.

"The very same." I cackled, pulling out my mag-rod as the shopkeeper lunged at me, clawing my face like a savage beast. I have no idea what he was trying to achieve but he was yelling his head off about revenge and not really getting anywhere. The lardy man was strong though and easily pinned me to cooler. I'm sure I could have broken free if I really tried but I was quite happy to let them batter me a little before I turned on them and showed them exactly what it meant to be a Turk. Drunk or not, I could take down twenty men like them effortlessly, so there was no reason to not let them have a little fun first. I liked to play with my prey. At least I'd get some pretty bruises to inspect when I got back to Healin.

"Ya think it's funny, Turk?" Jimmy hissed, pulling something out of his boot. Little bastard had a knife. "Lemme at 'im, Eric! No one will care. Doin' the world a favour!"

Okay, a knife was not fun. I started to struggle, my vision a little hazy from the whiskey and the battery.

"If yer gonna do it, do it!" I taunted, fumbling with the strap in my hand. The kid lunged forward again, holding his knife all wrong and slashing at me in the most inexperienced way I'd seen in years. As the blade struck my stomach, I pressed the switch on my mag-rod and suddenly both my attackers were stumbling backwards, shaking with the jolt of electricity I'd hit them with, cursing and yelling.

"What's taking you so long-"

Veering my head around at the sound of Cloud's voice, I found him standing in the doorway looking slightly horrified. I smirked, laughing morbidly to myself. "Rough neighbourhood, huh Spiky?"

"No shit. Reno, the fuck is going on?" Cloud yelled, as both men struggled back to their feet, disorientated after I'd just fried them.

"Nothin' I can't handle. Don' get yer panties in a twist, Strife."

He shot me a furious look before he turned his attention to the other two. The blonde glared silently for a moment, glancing back at me like he was looking for an explanation. The punk kid and the shopkeeper looking fucking terrified once they'd realized who'd just walked into the shop; I suppose saving the world twice did earn him some sort of respect from everyone, not to mention his ridiculous strength and apparent inability to die making him frightening. Perhaps I should try doing that sometime. They might have been more frightened by Cloud's apparent friendship with me though – not that that's what we shared, but I suppose it looked like it from the outside – since they'd been moments from killing me a second ago. I just laughed again, wiping the bleeding scratches on my face on with my sleeve and pulling out my cigarettes again. I looked down at the packet with a frown.

"Whatever the hell's going on here, I don't want to know. Let's go before you get your scrawny ass in any more trouble, Reno." Cloud sighed, lifting the now half empty whiskey bottle to his lips again before he offered it to me. I chuckled, passing him by and going back over to the shop counter. As always, the alcohol had loosened Cloud's tongue, and it never failed to amuse me. "What are you doing now? Come on."

"Jus a sec." I said, climbing up onto the counter and retrieving a new packet of cigarettes from behind the counter. I think I deserved it, since that punk had knocked one of mine to the floor before I'd even gotten to smoke it, and then tried to kill me. I hopped down again, wincing at the pain in my stomach as I did so, and tossed the open packet at the shopkeeper. "Alrighty. I'm outta here."

Cloud followed me out of the shop, as I smirked triumphantly at the two who'd tried to attack me. The mag-rod wasn't set too high, but the voltage was enough to leave them with a headache for days and now they'd seen Cloud with me, they'd think twice about messing with a Turk again, probably. I hate to think what might have happened if it had been Elena in the shop and not me; she wasn't as vulnerable as she looked sometimes, but she was a pretty young woman and gross men like those two would probably try and take advantage of her.

"What the hell was that about?" Cloud snapped, once we were outside. "No, don't tell me. I don't care."

"Punks still gotta problem with ShinRa." I explained anyway, taking the bottle from him finally and downing a few inches of it. Suddenly I hissed, wincing in pain as the wound in my stomach started to sting really badly. I stopped, pulling up my bloody shirt to look at it. I hadn't really even noticed I'd gotten hurt before because the alcohol numbed the pain but the gash was actually quite deep.

"You're bleeding." Cloud said, the statement sounding somewhat like a question as if he'd just noticed for the first time.

"Nah, it's nothin." I said, waving him away with the bottle of bourbon before taking another drink from it, all the time not taking my eyes off the gash. I prodded it a bit for good measure, hissing again because it really did hurt. Funny how some wounds just hurt more than others, depending on where they are – breaking my arm didn't hurt all that much, although it did when Vincent snapped it, but this was right through a muscle and every time I moved, it stretched. Still, nothing I couldn't handle because I'd had much worst, like when Cloud ran me through completely with his stupid sword on the pillar at Sector 7. That damn blade actually went right in one side and came out the other slightly, and I was damn lucky to get away alive. But that was all a distant memory now.

"Let me see it." Cloud said, pushing my hand away and crouching down slightly to take a look at it.

"Is jus a scratch, Strife!" I protested, but the way I winced in pain as I spoke said otherwise.

"It's deep."

"No shit." I sighed, pulling him upright again and trying to stare him the eye. "'M fine, Cloud."

"Not for long, Reno. Not like that." The blonde said defiantly, grabbing my elbow with one hand as I let go of him and searching for something in his back pocket with the other. "Just let me-"

Which is when I saw the green glow. My eyes widened impossibly and I thrashed out at him; it was pretty pathetic really but I was drunk and there wasn't much else I could do. "Wait, Spiky! Ya don' wanna… please don'…"

"Its just Cure, Reno. Stop struggling."

"But! B-but!" I stammered, pushing him away as he slotted the materia into his wrist protector. I could already feel the mako in my body drawing towards the glowing orb like it was a magnet. I tried to step away from him but he had my arm in a death grip and pushed me against the wall. "Stay still, dammit! Cure."

The hiss of his voice was the last thing I heard before I cried out in pain as my wounds knitted together and my body heated up unnaturally. The wounds were small and the reversal only took a matter of agonizing seconds, but I knew what was coming next. I just didn't want it to.

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Cloud sighed, releasing me and returning the materia to whatever pocket he'd pulled it out of. I wasn't really paying attention, as I watched the mako dancing in my eyes with a strange fascination. I could see it clearly as if it was in front of me; if I hadn't been so… hot then I might have found it quite mesmerizing but as it were, my thoughts were focused on another part of my body. "Let's go, Reno, or the sun will be up before we reach the helicopter."

"Har-har," I groaned, limping slightly over to him to hide the embarrassment between my legs. All I could think was fuck, not again… Because I'd managed to avoid this for like, almost two years now and suddenly it had happened twice in one week. Must have had some fucked up karma to deserve all the shit I was going through lately. Not like I had any clue what I'd done that was so bad. "Won' be up fer hours yet…"

I sat as far back on the motorcycle seat as I could, hanging onto his shoulders instead of his waist to avoid the extra contact… the alcohol wasn't helping, but I took another swig anyway as a way of distracting myself. I was slowly losing control of my senses and they were blaring worse than ever and making my head pound. I tried to recall a time when I'd had Cure used on me when I was drunk in the past but I couldn't – generally I was alone when I got into a fight.

I could already feel the swelling between my legs getting worse and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as Cloud took the bourbon off me to take a drink himself. "I take it we're not hangin out in the city then…" I asked grimly, wishing I'd not asked him to take me back to the chopper so I could go find some easy bird to spend the night with and fuck away this frustration.

"And risk you getting in more trouble? No." Cloud snapped, pushing the bottle back into my hand and pulling it around his waist. "You're going to fall off if you don't hold on properly. Don't make me tie you to me, Reno."

Staring at his offending hand, which was still gripping my forearm lightly, I tried to comprehend what he'd just said amongst the mental images of being tied down to a bed. Now I'd never had a problem with being a little experimental in the bedroom but Cloud? That was too strange to think about. "Y-yeah, sure. Whatever." I slurred, trying not to hold on too tight as he started the ignition again.

The journey was literally hell on wheels. We sped out of the city and I was finding it hard to even sit still, suddenly becoming one hell of a lot less capable at dealing with the situation after the second bottle of bourbon was finally emptied. It was a bit hard to fidget when you're tearing down a highway at 60mph and somewhere along the way I'd balled my fists into Cloud's vest, gripping it desperately like it would release some of the fucking tension I was feeling.

All my hard work of the past week was falling to shit because it seemed all the thoughts I'd been trying so hard to block out had seiged the mental barrier I'd put up and all I could think about was when Vincent had used Cure and Rufus' face when he moaned through his delirium. Fuck, fuck, I was so close to Cloud's back right now and I think if I was any more fucked I would have thrown myself from the back of the bike regardless of the fact it would probably kill me at this speed just to get away from him. I felt like drowning myself and he didn't have a fucking clue and he'd probably be laughing his pretty little head off if he knew. I mean, his spiky little head. What was his damn problem with that nickname anyway? Although that wasn't so much at the forefront of my mind as my feelings were, and the fucking memories they started to stir up that I didn't want to fucking remember, because I left the past in the past for a damn good reason and if I wasn't so drunk, thinking about them would have made me sick. Actually, maybe throwing myself off the bike was a good idea, because being dead was probably a lot more fun than this.

And then, like the damn blonde bastard had read my mind and knew what I intended on doing, he braked hard and spun the bike round to a stop. Fuck, that wasn't good for my head after this much booze.

"Reno," Cloud said, somewhere amongst the spinning colours and dizziness as I tried to focus again and found myself laughing suddenly because as horny and frustrated as I was, not being able to see was damn funny. Just one of the things I love about getting completely smashed. "Where did you leave the-"

I looked up, focusing on his spiky hair and pale eyes that seemed to shine wherever the hell he was – they'd probably flash like beacons in a pitch-black room – and trying to comprehend why he'd trailed off like that. Might have had something to do with the fact I was now clinging to his chest so tight he could hardly turn to look at me over his shoulder, but that was only because when he'd spun the fucking bike I had to in fear of actually flying off it, because I didn't actually want to die, even if I was a little fucked up in the head. Or a lot. Whatever.

"Cloud?" I asked anxiously, staring curiously into his mako tainted eyes.

"You're…" he started, but looked a little lost for words, because he opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly shut it again and looked away. "Pressing… into my back…"

"Huh?" I said, feeling slightly dumbfounded as I loosened my grip on his top. "Oh. Well, ya almost threw me off the damn bike, ya know!"

"Umm…" The blonde frowned, looking slightly uneasy – I had almost got my vision back now as the dizziness subsided and I swear could almost see a tinge of red on his pale face, which was still looking a little worse for wear. It only took a moment wondering about what the hell he was uncomfortable about for me to realize, just as he spoke up again. "I mean… a little lower…"

Screwing my face up in embarrassment, I shifted as far back on the motorcycle as I could without slipping off it and grinned in a wired, kill-me-now sort of way, hands covering my crotch like doing so would make him forget what he'd felt, although it probably only confirmed it. "Fuck, is… uhh..." I muttered, turning a deeper shade of red than the hair on my head and suddenly feeling twice as drunk as I was whilst I struggled to find the right words, refusing to open my eyes and see the look on Cloud's face.

Although suddenly it seemed like it didn't really matter whether I wanted to look or not because my eyes shot open as his hand brushed along my thigh and fuck, I didn't even have a moment to gather my thoughts let alone open my mouth to speak before he'd shifted closer and pressed his lips harshly against mine. The only thing I had time to comprehend was the bright blue of his eyes as he leaned in, filled with uncertainty and piercing into my own. I didn't even notice he'd turned around in his seat, until his hand had trailed up to my waist and crushed us together.

And I should have pushed him away, or myself away, or something but I didn't, because the contact was enough to make me tense and squirm in his arms, try and kiss him deeper and gaia, thrust myself closer, desperate for some kind of release from my fucking arousal. Fuck, why couldn't I control my libido?

So it was Cloud who ended the kiss, pulling away slowly and leaving the lingering taste of mako and bourbon on my lips. My hand drifted up to touch them as I stared at him, panting slightly and feeling completely lost. He only stared back, mouth slightly open like he wasn't really sure what to say, but his shining eyes looked less doubtful. I fucking cursed myself for thinking about his eyes when there was a more pressing issue at hand; he'd just kissed me. Cloud had just fucking kissed me. Despite the fact I was fucking shocked, I was mortified that I'd just… kissed him back. He was a fucking guy. I didn't do that. But I hadn't pushed him off. Why the fuck not? What was wrong with me?

It usually takes a lot to horrify me. No amount of blood and gore could do it anymore. No mutated creature or experiment of Hojo's would unnerve me, even if it materialized out of thin air. But this was something different. "I-" I stuttered, shifting back even further and not getting to finish my sentence because I fell right off the back of the bike.

I didn't hit the floor though, because he fucking caught me as I was falling; luckily not by swooping down to catch me in his arms or any sick shit like that because I think I would have actually puked my guts out if he had – in fact, he just grabbed the collar of my shirt and tugged me upright onto the seat again.

"Cloud." I said quietly, trying to look anywhere but at the blonde and failing miserably because there was nothing for miles that could distract me from the truth of what had just happened. "Ya don' understand whas goin on…"

The worst part about it had to be the throbbing between my legs that was just begging me to do it again.

But once again, whether you conceive it as a lucky or unlucky thing, because really I would have just sat there til sunrise staring in horror, I found the decision was not mine to make; I opened my mouth to speak again only to meet two silencing fingers that pressed up against them as Cloud leaned back in, and past me, until his cheek was pressed against my ear. I half-expected the damn bastard to say something sick and poetic and I must have gone into shell shock because once again, I just did nothing. All he whispered was "Shh…"

"Oh gods!" I cried out, ignoring his soft order as his hand slipped between my legs, running slowly across the bulge that was causing this whole fucking mess right here. "Ahh-!"

The rest of my desperate cry was swallowed as he kissed me again, this time sinking his gloved fingers into my hair and pulling my head back slightly. Every time his tongue plunged into the kiss, his hand pressed forward and, fuck, all I could do was thrust back against it for the friction I so desperately needed. "C-cloud…" I moaned, my eyes half-lidded and my hands balling up his vest again and shaking from the whole fucking ordeal. I don't know if it was just the materia, or the fact I hadn't had sex in a while now but every touch was fucking electric and my body was begging for something more.

'Cloud'. My eyes snapped open, like I'd just woken up from a bad dream – perhaps I had – the second the name spilled from my lips. I pushed him away and stumbled back again, my sudden revelation hitting me like a ton of fucking bricks. "I-I'm a guy, Cloud!" I yelled in a burst of sudden anger, glaring daggers at him and once again falling off the bike, only this time I did find myself on the floor and wondering if I really was just having some sick nightmare. It would hardly surprise me with the general warped direction of my thoughts lately.

However, as soon as I was down, I found myself upright; the both of us were standing on solid ground, not that I'd noticed that happening because I was dizzy again and suddenly holding onto his shoulder to steady myself. "I know." He said roughly, one hand on my chin, pulling me close enough to kiss again, as the other grabbed my own hand and lead it down between his legs. "Does it look like I care?"

I shook my head, struggling away from him slightly and twisting my hand free from his, surprised to find he happily let go in favour or resting his own hand against my belt. "Wait!" I snapped, half-heartedly pulling away from him because I could feel the warmth from his hand exactly where I needed it to be already.

"Reno, either we do it here, or you walk away from this right now." Cloud growled softly, staring me in the eyes. That should have been an easy fucking choice, but I found my frustration and my lips betraying me again.

"Wait…" I mumbled, as his hand slid down my chest, from my chin to my free wrist. "Not here, Spiky. Lodge… is only twenty minutes away… ahh-!"

He growled deeper, one hand pulling my body flush against him and dragging us both back onto the bike again as the other rubbed me agonizingly slowly through my pants.

"Call me that again."