CHAPTER NINE

Sure enough, slumped against a tree by the side of the road, was the missing remnant. Rude hit the brakes, pulling up close to Yazoo as though he expected him to bolt again. He looked like crap, and Reno was pretty sure the remnant wouldn't be going anywhere soon. It looked as though he drained all of his strength, which explained why he had called the Turk up – he'd had no choice.

The redhead dropped into a crouch beside the staring remnant, who hadn't responded to their arrival with anything more that mild interest and a grim gaze. Reno grabbed him angrily by the shirt and shook him momentarily. "Hey, what the hell happened? What are you doing out here?"

"I'm scared," Yazoo whimpered unexpectedly.

He clutched Reno's shirt, burying his face into the material as he trembled silently. Was he crying? Unsure of how to approach the surprise development, Reno put his arm around the remnant's shoulders, holding him securely as the other man just released the fear, rage and anxiety that had been eating him up for weeks.

Reno glanced up at Rude, who was watching the scene curiously, his astonished expression undoubtedly mirroring his partner's, but Reno figured his own shock had a slightly different cause.

The other Turk wandered off a little, as though to give his partner to some privacy. He pulled out his phone, giving the mission update that Rufus Shinra had requested. It would only be a short time until they took the remnant back there.

Seeing as his partner's back was turned, Reno decided to provide a little more comfort for the remnant. He reached for the silver hair that hung around Yazoo's face, hiding his expression, gently brushing it away so that he could see the remnant's face and perhaps finally understand what was going on inside his head.

Yazoo turned his watery turquoise eyes on the Turk, staring at him defiantly.

"Uh... it's gonna be okay," Reno ventured, though empathy wasn't his field of expertise, especially not with ex-sociopaths. He pulled the remnant to his feet, supporting him as they moved towards the parked car.

"Are you going to take me somewhere safe?" asked Yazoo, in a trusting voice that made Reno feel like a sack of crap. He had finally broken through the remnant's cold, spiteful exterior, and now he was about to take him back to the one place he would hate to return to.

"Yeah... sure."

...

After leading Loz through a network of tunnels that he doubted he could find his way back through, the guards yanked open the door of a small windowless closet, which was to serve as a holding-cell. He would've tried to fight them off, and had, but seeing he wasn't going to come quietly, the guards had clapped some handcuffs onto his wrists.

He felt miserable. Angry too, but mainly just miserable. Yazoo would probably say it was very foolish of him to have trusted one of them, when they didn't trust the remnants. He'd said they would betray the pair the first chance they got. Yuffie had abandoned him, so maybe his brother was right. He wished Yazoo was here, he'd know what to do, right? He'd have formed an escape plan before they'd even reached the cells. The only plan Loz had been able to come up with had been to whack one of the guards when he wasn't looking, and that had proved a waste of time.

How was he supposed to get out if no one was going to tell him what to do? He was perfectly capable of doing things, just not thinking about them. 'All brawn, no brain', was what Kadaj had said before, which was why he needed Yazoo. They balanced each other out, so that they were stronger together than they were alone.

Why had Yuffie run away? He thought they were friends, seeing as she'd included him in her little game. No one ever wanted to play with him, but she had, and he thought that maybe it meant he was now being accepted by his big brother's friends. Maybe Yuffie really didn't like him after all. Maybe he was just bait, or a distraction, something like that. He was getting angrier with every self-pitying thought that floated through his head.

One of the guards held the door open, herding the remnant inside for an indeterminably long stay.

Just as Loz was considering trying to whack one of the guards again, an over-sized shruiken flew past, hitting one of his captors. He seized the opportunity and rammed the other one face first into the wall, before glancing up to see what had captivated the gangsters' attention. To his elation, a familiar figure stood atop the generator that was across the wide hall from the closet.

"As fast as a shooting star and as strong as the Bahamut, it's Yuffie Kisaragi! Fighting injustice and materia-thieves all over the world! Fight me if you dare, slimeballs!"

The remaining guards exchanged bemused glances at the arrival of this boastful young woman. Just as they collectively decided to reach for their weapons, Yuffie tossed her shruiken back into the air, where it whirled through the confined space, knocking a couple of guards onto their backs, and striking another's gun out of his hands. She somersaulted from the generator, catching her weapon just in time to smack an approaching guard round the face with it. Eager to do his part, Loz kicked the final gangster into the holding cell, barring the door with the nearby chair.

Yuffie snatched some keys from a guard's belt and released the remnant from his handcuffs.

"You came back for me?" Loz asked, still astounded that she'd returned, when he'd been so sure that she'd just abandoned him. Maybe they could be friends after all. "I thought you ran. Thanks..."

Yuffie shrugged with a grin. "No problem. Don't go assuming this makes us friends."

"Okay." He smiled. It didn't matter what she said; the fact she came back meant a great deal to him. He noticed that apart from her small knapsack, there was no sign of the spoils of their trip. "Hey, where's the materia we came for?"

"I left most of it behind, when I came back. It doesn't matter... I'll come back for it later."

Loz smiled at her, and she cocked an eyebrow at the manic grin on the remnant's face. He was certain of it now: he'd made a friend of Yuffie.

...

On the small group's arrival at their destination, Tseng and Elena had appeared to escort Yazoo to a small hospital facility that was attached to the building where Rufus Shinra now spent most of his days. He was still quite weak, though the explosion that had wounded him so seriously had been over two years ago. Despite his invalid state, it didn't make him any less respectable or formidable, and Reno was wise enough to know it was a waste of time trying to trick or lie to him.

He was seated by the side of a window in the minimally furnished room. It was in a clinical white decor, which Reno didn't think much of himself, but maybe it was to unnerve the President's visitors.

Rufus Shinra manoeuvred his wheelchair so that he was facing him, and tapped his fingers lightly on the arm on the chair as he gave what Reno expected would be a long lecture. "Releasing the remnants as we did was a huge risk, and judging from Yazoo's erratic behaviour, it's clear that he's too dangerous to have on the loose, no matter what Cloud Strife says. It also seems that you and Rude are not capable of keeping these remnants under control. I think it's better we keep him in for observation, and run some tests. I'm worried he might go the same way as Kadaj, and we can't have him out there if that happens."

"What, you're gonna lock him up, test on him?" Reno exclaimed. He didn't make a habit of speaking out of turn with Rufus Shinra, but the words flew from his mouth before he could stop them. "But I told him I was gonna put him somewhere safe!"

"Nevertheless, you've seen for yourself how easy it's been for him to just slip through your fingers. If he hadn't called you, he might've ended up getting all the way to his destination and we could have ended up with Sephiroth on our hands, not a delirious remnant."

Reno scowled; there was no arguing with Shinra. He should've expected this, really, that he wouldn't be just be acting as Yazoo's minder forever, without incident. He was frustrated with the remnant for pulling this stunt and getting himself in this situation, but another part of him was worried about Yazoo's welfare, in light of what Rufus had just said.

"Sir, can I at least see him, just to explain things?"

"In a few days," he negotiated. "He'll need some time to acclimatise."

"Yes, sir." Reno was hardly going to risk his place in the Turks by siding with a potentially dangerous remnant, was he?

...