I believe this was the fourth version of this chapter. Bryn had to find out the truth, I just couldn't figure the best way; and I was NOT going to make Reno be the one to tell her. I tried for a balance in Reno (my, how that sound strange); little bits of humor, seriousness, carelessness, and caring thrown in. I hope it worked. Enjoy.

FM

Truth

Bryn was going to have to face the truth

Bryn was going to have to face the truth. Reno knew that, and he knew it wasn't going to be an easy truth for her to take. What he hadn't anticipated was that she would do it so soon, and that she would tell him about it in a note.

It was centered at the foot of the bed, folded with his name in a neat script on the front. A day at the office with nothing much to do and no excitement had left him edgy and restless. Finding the apartment empty sent a bolt of panic through him, and although finding the note was somewhat of a relief, he unfolded it with a feeling of dread.

"Reno, I've made up my mind to confront my father, let him know that I can't live like this, his prisoner even though he still can't protect me. I can't hide forever. I know you and I were going to talk about this, but I have to do it while I have the nerve to stand up to him, and I didn't want to bother you at work. Hopefully I can get through to him. Wish me luck and don't be mad that I couldn't wait. I will call when it's settled. Yours, Bryn."

By the time he finished the short note he had already slammed the door of the apartment behind him and was racing up to the rooftop parking. He got his cell out and punched Tseng's number and waited impatiently.

"Tseng."

"It's Reno. I'm on my way to Dunstan's penthouse. Get Elena and Rude and meet me there."

"Why there?"

"Fuck, Tseng!" Reno interrupted him. "I don't have time for why's. Just be there."

He made record time to the office building where Dunstan's penthouse was located, where a fight had already begun. Reno spotted the Shinra limousine right away, not because it stood out so much as it was on the receiving end of a hail of bullets. He could see Elena and Tseng taking refuge behind the car. Rude was nowhere to be found.

Reno's arrival didn't go unnoticed. He put the cycle into a slide and ditched it to take refuge behind another car as the gunfire turned in his direction. He checked under the car first, gauging the location of the nearest shooters, and then dodged behind another car, moving into line of sight with Elena and Tseng. The electro-mag rod had appeared in his right hand, his reflexes having taken over its retrieval, and he now pulled the gun from the holster that hid it beneath the back of his jacket. It may not have been his first choice of weapons, but he certainly was not averse to using it.

He nodded at Elena and Tseng, and when they provided the necessary cover, he moved up a couple of rows closer to the building, and then covered their movement while they moved. It was moments like this that he appreciated how easily and naturally the Turks worked together when they needed to. They all knew their job and knew how to get it done, even when there was limited communication.

The next time he moved, Reno came face to face with two guards that had been doing some moving and shaking of their own. Reno rolled, catching the first one in the throat with the electro-mag rod and then turned in his crouched position to catch the other across his gut. Two bullets and he didn't have to worry about either again, but Reno was starting to lose patience.

"Come on Rude. Where the fuck are you?"

He muttered it under his breath, pushing down the desire to scream it across the parking lot. He knew his partner was out there somewhere, and when he finally made his presence known, it would be with a bang.

Reno wasn't disappointed. He could feel the heat of the blast, and hit the ground as debris flew around and over the car he was crouched behind. He waited a breath, then two, and took the chance to glance around the car to see what kind of damage his partner had caused.

Rude was standing off to the side of the building, arms crossed over his chest, glasses pulled down to the end of his nose, with a smug look on his face.

"Why do you guys always have to do things the hard way?" He called out.

They all stood up from where they had taken cover. Tseng, dusting off his jacket, looked up in disgust.

"Why is it you always have to decimate everything in sight?"

Rude snorted and pushed his glasses up to hide his eyes.

"Awe, how sweet. Check it Elena. They're flirting with one another." Picking on Tseng made Reno feel better in the worst situation, and he knew Rude could take the ribbing.

Tseng turned on him, eyes narrowed. "This is your fault Reno. None of this would have been necessary if you had kept your emotions out of your work."

Reno shrugged it off as he replaced his gun in its holster and slung the electro-mag rod onto his shoulder. Before he turned away, though, he caught the expression on Elena's face as Tseng said those words, and wondered if, one day, Elena would break through her partner's icy exterior.

The lobby was empty and ominously quiet as they passed through on the way to the elevator, which they found empty when the doors hissed open. It seemed that Dunstan had placed all his security outside the building, probably assuming no one would ever get past them. They rode the elevator in silence, but were ready and hyper-aware when the doors slid open; they knew what a position they were in if security was waiting for them, but Reno had refused to take the time to climb the stairs. They're concerns were unfounded though. The hall leading to the penthouse was empty, and the door of the penthouse stood slightly ajar.

"Now that's not a good sign, is it?" Reno muttered. He moved ahead of the others, preparing himself mentally for whatever he would find. Back to the wall, he crouched down and used one arm to slowly swing the door open, looking back to Rude, who was slightly behind, to confirm the room clear as far as he could see. Tseng did the same from the other side of the call. From their point of view, Reno figured he had about forty-five degrees accounted for. He quickly ducked his head in and out of the room, clearing another large section, and then swung around, gun extended, to clear the other side. Although dark, the room looked empty. He stood and entered cautiously, leaving the lights off. It made it harder for him to see, but also harder for any enemy to see him. He let his eyes adjust and moved forward, and sensed Rude, Tseng, and Elena spanning out behind him.

There was an ominous click in the dark somewhere off to Reno's left, and he spun into a crouch to find Tseng's silhouette, hands held out to the side in a stance of surrender. His voice, low and careful, drifted across the room.

"Reno. Over here." Tseng was lowering himself to a crouch, blending into the shadows that hid whatever he was looking at. "It's okay, Bryn. You remember me, don't you? I work with Reno. He's here, with me." Reno heard the sob as he came up behind Tseng. It was a soft, wet, desperate sound, and he knew it was Bryn, and his heart wrenched at the brokenness of it.

"Bryn." He could see her now, in the shadows on the floor, and he could see the gun extended in her hands. It had been pointed at Tseng, but had slipped down in her limp hand. Reno holstered his own gun and took the gun from her with one hand while steadying her hand with the other. He passed the gun behind him to Tseng as he took Bryn into his arms. She slumped against him, her body feeling as broken as her sobs.

He leaned over her, holding as much of her as possible, hands searching for anything that might be wrong.

"Are you hurt, Bryn?" She didn't respond, but Reno had the feeling that the state she was in had nothing to do with physical injury. So he waited; waited it out till she was quiet and limp in his arms before he asked her again. He was relieved when he felt the shake of her head, but he cringed when he heard her voice.

"It was him all along. How stupid was that? How stupid that I didn't see it, didn't suspect it. How stupid that he didn't just ask." Her breath hitched here and there, but she was determined to get it out. "Money. That's what it was all about. The trust my mother left for me. His business was falling apart and he needed money, and this…this is what he planned." Her voice cracked on the last and the sobs started again. "I came here to make peace and I ended up…I ended up killing him."

Reno scanned the shadows, searching for the proof of her words. There was a vague lump a few feet away and pride spiked in Reno's heart. She was torn up about it now, but she had done what needed to be done. "It's going to be all right, Bryn."

Bryn went on with her explanation without hearing him.

"I think he lost his mind. I came through the door and he started ranting, yelling about my mother and how selfish she had been, standing in his way, how he thought it was over when she died, but then I was the one standing in his way. And then he tried to…to…"

"He's been the one trying to kill you all along, Bryn. He knew that if he killed you, the money would be his."

She shoved violently against him, freeing herself, her voice rising in hysteria as she rose shakily to her feet.

"He was my father, Reno. Why didn't he just ASK? I would have given it to him."

"I don't…"

They had let their guard down, and Reno mentally kicked himself in the split second it took the shadow to rise up from behind Bryn and pull her further back into the gloom. He drew his gun again, but kept it at his side.

"Fucking Turk." Reno recognized the voice right away. "This is your fault, you know. If you hadn't done your job so well, the little princess here would have been dead that first day in the city. But no…you took the assignment seriously and fucked everything up. Including HER." He added with a snarl as the hand he had wrapped in her hair jerked her body back into his.

A light flared on overhead.

"Bitch." He screamed the word at Elena, who had her gun drawn and aimed. Reno waived her back as he saw the blood trickling down from Bryn's neck where the knife Derrick held there had slipped.

Derrick leaned over to whisper in Bryn's ear. "You know, Sweetheart, that little cherry was supposed to be mine. I was supposed to get the privilege of fucking you up before I killed you."

A tiny spark went off in Bryn's mind, and anger flooded in and temporarily pushed the fear back. She bucked her body back against him, and managed to get space, but couldn't get away from the hold he had in her hair.

"Bastard. I would have killed you before I let you touch me." A hysterical giggle escaped. "Besides, you would have been so disappointed. I gave up that little prize long before I came home."

He punished her outburst by using his hold to drag her to her knees in front of him, causing a gasp of pain as her head was twisted back and to the side. He cut a bit deeper into her throat. "Like mother, like daughter, I see. You know, she couldn't keep her legs closed, either, from what I heard. And, like you," he enunciated every word, "she fought to the bitter end."

Bryn froze in his grip.

"That's right, Princess. You weren't the first person your father had to take care of. He married her for her fortune, after all, and then she made sure that he couldn't touch the money. It was all so easy to make it look like an accident. But another accident? That would have been suspicious. But to make it look like his enemies were trying to get to him by taking you out? That was easy."

His eyes met Reno's. "You know that I'm not going to let you have her."

It wasn't a question, and Reno knew by the heat in the man's eyes that he was past reasoning with. He had seen that look more times than he could count on various missions, the desperate, mad expression that filled a man's eyes when he knew there was only one option left.

Reno's eyes narrowed into tight focus on Derrick.

"Do you trust me Bryn?"

She couldn't move her head, but she glanced at him, recognizing the dangerous tone in his voice.

"Yes." She whispered, trying not to move against the knife. "I trust you."

"Then close your eyes and don't move." His voice had softened, holding all the charm and seduction she knew him capable of, and she did as he said without hesitation.

Their was an abrupt, muffled sound, which to Bryn sounded like "thwump" and a second later, Derrick's weight dragged her to the ground, even as his arms went limp around her. She cried out, but remained as she was, eyes shut tight, until a hand closed around her upper arm and lifted her up and free from the weight. She turned, opening her eyes, to find Derrick motionless on the floor, blood oozing into his hair at the back of his head. The breath went out of her in a whoosh, and she couldn't seem to get enough back into her lungs.

Reno pulled her to him and caught her as her knees went out from beneath her. Over her head, he caught sight of Rude, who had managed to circle around for backup if it had been needed. He had let Reno handle it, though, and it gave Reno immense satisfaction that he had finally put a bullet in security chief's head.