~10~
Rude took control of the situation, barking out orders for the rest of the TURKs to start searching. "Reno and I will search those two," he stated, pointing to the two stores with shattered windows.
"Fuck, yo!" Reno groused as he examined the scoring on the metal of his weapon. With a sigh he held it up, "At least we got something." Still embedded in the baton was a single bloody talon that had been ripped loose from it's fleshy bed during the last shove. "I just completed getting it customized," he said mournfully.
"Mourn later, move now," Rude instructed as he took the EMR away from Reno and handed it off to a rookie. "Get that to the Forensics Unit ASAP."
"Yes sir!" the rookie saluted then took off with the object in question.
"What's the hurry yo? He's gone." Outwardly he didn't seem to care the suspect was gone, but inside he was as gleeful as a child during Winter's Fire with a huge stack of presents waiting for him. This just meant he could continue his hunt.
Rude didn't say anything, gust gave Reno a look though the battered shades that said shut up and follow. Turning on heel he headed to the first building then cautiously looked inside. Holding up a finger to signal his partner to stay quiet, he tipped his head first one way then another. Backing away from his first choice he went to the second and repeated the process.
"He can't blame me for those shades this time," Reno muttered not bothering to hide the roll of his eyes before he examined his nails then his clothes. Skin was untouched beneath the rips and tears, not even a red mark to show for it. At the sound of a finger snap, he looked up head tilted to the side. He headed towards Rude, following the signals about which way to go. The pair slid though the darkness, stepping carefully so not to make any noises. When they turned a corner, Reno's eyes brightened as he started grinning. They found their prey. Prey that was apparently unconscious too (or at least unmoving). Three steps later and his shirt was chocking him from where Rude had grabbed him, yanking him back. "What the fuck yo!"
"Shut it Ren," Rude ordered as he knelt down next to the person. With a gentleness that belied his size and reputation for being a bruiser, he carefully rolled the suspect over. Large hands moved with grace as the great coat was parted to revel a loose fitting silk dress shirt that had once seen better days. Those same hands ghosted up the thin column of a neck to unravel the soft black scarf but stopped then went back down to part the top of the shirt. "Shiva's tits," Rude muttered in disgust reaching up to rub his throat.
"What?" Reno asked not liking the change in Rude's tone of voice. Dropping into a crouch next his aibou, he studied Rude's profile in the dim light. With a sigh he turned his head away and looked down at the suspect. He lifted a hand to scratch the side of his head a moment then tilted his head the other direction. "So aibou, what am I suppose to be looking at?"
"This," the big TURK said after he removed the scarf and opened the shirt further.
The 'This' in question was a neck ring fastening so tightly against the flesh of Fox's neck that it looked almost embedded into it. The front part curved downwards to the hollow of the throat to curl cruelly back in on itself like hooks. Nestled in that hollow spot was an orb hardly larger then a ping-pong ball, that pulsed with dull, erratically changing colors in time with his heartbeat. On either side of the orb, right over his jugular veins, was tiny ports that allowed something to be connected to it.
"The Fuck?" Reno gasped jerking back like he'd just been presented a vile diseased piece of Jenova. He shot to his feet and started pacing like a caged animal. His expressions going from total gut wrenching disgust to shock then cascading into dismay and furious anger. Every time he turned he'd shot a look to Rude mouth opening and closing but nothing came out. Right this moment he was feeling an equal amount of disgust and hate towards himself for so gleefully chasing after the person. It was like being told to hunt down a dangerous monster only to discover afterwards that it was a child's defenseless pampered pet. He was stopped when strong arms curled around him from behind, pulling him against an equally strong chest. Twisting around Reno buried his face against the love of his life's chest.
"Shh, you didn't know Little Big man," Rude rumbled softly while stroking fiery red strands. He learned how to read and interpret what Reno was thinking just by they way he acted. "I willing to bet no one knows about it, not even those he's let close to him."
"So, what are we going to do?" Reno asked, his voice muffled by the old coat Rude was wearing.
"Right this instant?"
A nod.
"Nothing."
"Nothing? What do you mean nothing? There's got to be something that can be done, yo," Reno said with an incredulous look.
"When you were a kid, did you ever find a wounded animal?"
Crinkling his nose in thought he shook his head. "Not that I can remember. Why?"
Rude sighed, glancing down at the unconscious suspect he watched the orb for several moments. "When I was a kid, I found this wounded animal once. I thought I was doing the right thing by taking it to nurse it back to health. It didn't last more then a day. Turned out it was so frightened that it died. The way I see it our suspect-"
"Fox. His name is Fox," the redhead spoke up suddenly.
"The way I see it, Fox is like that wild animal. Injured, frightened and backed into a corner. If we tried to take him in, he wouldn't last more then a day or two. Even drugging him senseless could cause problems later on. We're going to have to get him to trust us before we can help him."
Reno nodded in understanding, even if he didn't like it. "When did you get so wise, yo?"
"Self-defense from being around you so much. One of us has to be the wise one," Rude replied with a chuckle. "Now Little Big Man, give me all your cash and take my wire. Since I'm the one incivies I'll see if I can coax him into trusting me and letting us help him."
"Shit Rude, Tseng'll be pissed about this. And I'll get my ass chewed out for letting you do it too, yo," Reno reasoned as he stepped back with a sigh, already fishing his wallet out of a pocket. He paused a moment in thought. "Hey partner, Claudia had a chance to glance him over when he was in the med tent. Said he was in pretty bad shape then.. think you can get him to trust you enough to get some drugs into him if she can get them for you?"
Scratching at the annoying face fuzz a moment he nodded. "Can't hurt to try." Kneeling down once more next to Fox, he reached down and repositioned the unconscious man's head so that it was tipped back, throat exposed fully. "Give me your phone Ren," he said.
"Who do you want the pics to go to?" Reno asked knowing without asking what his partner wanted to do.
"Elena, little sister has been in a blue mood for the past few weeks and this will let her get a hand in since she wasn't able to come today. And Claudia cause she's the best damned medic around and knows how to keep quiet. Also tell Tseng, but only if you have to," Rude replied hating to keep his boss out of the loop at the moment. He didn't try and kid himself into thinking the Wutain would never find out. In moments several pictures were snapped and the phone handed back. Once done he re-arranged Fox's clothing so that it would look as if nothing had taken place. As he was doing that he moved one arm reveling a bracer of the same design with two more orbs, one showing more blues and the other with purple as the dominant color, pressing against his wrists. These orbs were barely half the size of the one at his throat. With a sneaking suspicion he checked the other arm. The same thing except these orbs were greenish and yellow-gold. He held out the his hand for the phone again and got additional pictures.
Once he had his phone back, Reno turned and walked away. Even though he was an experienced and battle hardened TURK, there was only so much he could stand. The last time he'd come across something this bad had been several years ago and of a different nature but still just as bad. Crossing his arms over his chest he hugged himself. A few minutes later the sound of footsteps had him turning his head. "It time?"
"Yeah," Rude replied in his deep rumbling voice wrapping his arms about the lithe redhead once more. "I'll report in as often as possible. Will have Claudia pass any messages to you alright?"
"Not alright, but it'll have to do, yo," Reno answered back, accepting the comfort of the big man's arms. "Be safe," he told Rude before giving him a soul deep kiss, which was heartfelt returned.