When Rude woke up he thought for a moment that he was back in the dirty building, still tied to that chair. He sat up and then fell back, groaning in pain. He realized then where he was, he was in the hospital, he was injured but he was still alive, and Reno was laying near his bed in the most uncomfortable position Rude had ever seen in his life. Rude chuckled a little before grasping his chest in pain. A nurse walked in a short while later and gave him several painkillers.

As the medicine set in Rude watched Reno sleep. Half of him wanted to wake Reno up to get him out of the strange position he was in, the other half just wanted to watch Reno sleep. The first half won out and Rude grabbed the hand that was close to his own and gave it a shake. Reno woke with a start, snorting as he did. Rude couldn't help but laugh at him. His goggles were pushed halfway off his head and had left an imprint on his forehead. Reno's mouth was stretched in a comical 'O' and his eyes fluttered a bit as he fought to wake up fully.

"Hey there Rude." Reno said when he finally found the brain cells necessary to talk. "How ya fe-feeling?" Reno yawned widely.

"Never better." Rude still held Reno's hand in his own. "Thanks for saving me Reno."

Reno ran a hand through his hair and then pulled his other hand from Rude's grasp to straighten his goggles. "You'll have to thank Elena too. I was a little tardy to the party actually. Tseng didn't tell me until after he had already sent Elena after you. Otherwise you would've been out sooner."

Rude chuckled, "I think you came at just the right time. You made quite an entrance too if I recall correctly. 'You've got the wrong bastard' I believe that was your opening statement."

Reno stretched and then flopped his head back down on the mattress. "Yup. They sure as hell had the wrong guy, there was no way in hell they'd be able to get a damned word out of you. Hell half the time I have trouble getting you to talk and I'm twice as ruthless as they were." Reno laughed lightly.

Rude grinned, "You're only ruthless when it comes down to the last slice of pizza."

"Be that as it may, Im still twice as bad-ass as those fucktarts were." Reno nestled his head into the blankets and Rude felt a soft smile tug at his lips.

"How long was I out?" Rude sat up and adjusted his bed. He knew Reno loved to play with the electric hospital beds. It was the only thing he liked about hospitals.

"I'm not even sure how long I was out. So far as I know it was only a day but with my ability to sleep through just about everything so long as no one touches me it could've been four." Reno opened his eyes. "What the hell are you so happy about?"

"You." Reno blushed and Rude laughed.

"I'm just a ray of sunshine ain't I?" Reno sat up and ran a hand through his hair and started trying to arrange it into it's properly ruffled formation.

"Yeah, you are." Rude leaned forward and grabbed Reno's hands from his hair. "I owe you my life Reno."

Reno blushed. "It's nothing I didn't already owe you."

Rude chuckled and pulled Reno towards him, happy when Reno willingly went where he was guided. "Still." Rude put both of Reno's hands into one of his own before reaching his own hand out to tilt Reno's face towards his own. "A life is a life."

A nurse walked in and Rude let Reno go and laid back, annoyed, as the nurse started to check his IV's and vitals.

Reno was confused as hell. His heart was pounding so fast in his chest that he thought it might explode at any second. He cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair as he sat back down. Tseng walked in, "Nice to see you among the living Rude."

Rude gave an annoyed grunt. He had just been seconds away from what he was going to make the best kiss of his life when the universe had turned against him and people had ruined the moment.

"Reno, we need to chat for a minute. Come outside." Tseng turned on his heel and left. Reno stood up and gave Rude a salute and a sigh before he followed.

Tseng stood in the hall, arms crossed. "What's wrong boss-man?"

"Rufus would like a word." Tseng seemed less than happy about that and Reno was even more upset about it.

"Why the hell does he want to see me?" Reno had a sneaking feeling that he knew exactly why Rufus wanted to see him.

"Didn't say. He just wants me to take you up to his office. Go tell Rude bye and then we'll go up. Don't tell him where you're going though, Rude is pissed as hell at the President and Rufus knows it." Tseng gave Reno a pointed look at these words.

Reno sighed. "Orders received captain." He gave a mock salute before turning back into the hospital room.

Rude looked up at him with a smile. The nurse pushed past Reno as he moved to stand beside Rude's bed. "Boss-man says I've got an appointment I didn't make."

Rude's eyes narrowed. "I'm gonna take a wild guess that it's with Rufus."

"You didn't hear it from me." Reno sighed and ran his fingers along the back of Rude's hand. "I'll be back ASAP alright partner?"

"You better be." Rude growled and grabbed Reno's wandering fingers. Reno blushed and swallowed. He had no idea why Rude was suddenly making him feel hot and bothered.

"Don't worry, I will." Reno gave Rude a cocky smile before exiting the room.

Tseng led Reno to Rufus' office, only barely seeming to register that Reno was in Lala land. Once Reno spotted Rufus however his head snapped back to the present and out of the small fantasy world where he dreamed things that made sense. Of course, for some reason Rude making him feel that way didn't strike him as something that didn't make sense, it was just something that struck him as odd.

"Good to see you Reno. Tseng, you may leave us." Tseng bowed himself out of the office. Reno wished he could follow but instead stood with his hands in his pockets.

"How's Rude?" Rufus asked as he pushed his files to one side.

"He'll live." Reno arranged his facial features into the coldest expression he could muster.

"Good to hear. Sit please." Rufus gestured at the chair across from his desk.

"I'd rather stand sir." Reno threw as much contempt into the last word as he could.

"Then I'm no longer asking. Sit." Reno did as he was told, albeit slowly.

Rufus pressed his hands together and pushed the tips of his fingers under his nose as he closed his eyes and sighed, "Reno I think we're on the wrong foot right now aren't we?"

"We are." Reno folded his arms and sat back in his chair.

"How can we fix that?" Rufus opened his eyes and gave Reno a passionate glance.

"I could leave." Reno said looking away from Rufus' hungry gaze.

"I don't think that will work Reno." Rufus stood and Reno sat bolt upright.

"I think that would work just fine." Reno gripped the armrests on his chair as Rufus circled the desk.

"But I don't think that. Your friend Rude issued quite a threat to me the other day." Rufus smirked and leaned back against his desk.

"What kind of threat?" Reno knew Rufus wasn't going to be quite so pleasant soon.

"It involved you. Apparently I'm not allowed to touch you ever again. You know I don't like being told what to do Reno." Reno gulped audibly as he ran a hand over his face. Rude threatened Rufus Shinra? About me?

"I know that. Why are you talking to me instead of Rude then?" Reno didn't want Rufus talking to Rude, but he did want to know his reasons for not doing so.

"Because I want to prove to him that I can do what I want, when I want, and he has no say in that." Rufus bent down and placed his hands on Reno's wrists, pressing them into the fabric of the chair.

Reno's eyes narrowed. "I'm not your sex toy Rufus."

Rufus gave Reno a wicked grin. "You are whatever I say you are." He leaned in to kiss Reno but Reno turned his head.

"Like hell I am! Face it, you can't do a damn thing if I don't want it. Being your sperm trash can isn't part of my job description." Reno made no attempt to physically hurt Rufus, but he desperately wanted too.

"No, but following my orders is." Rufus whispered into Reno's ear as he nibbled the soft lobe.

Reno pulled away from Rufus' wandering mouth and tried to remove his hands as well but Rufus had him pinned down. He hadn't thought that Rufus would be as strong as he was but then again, Reno wasn't super strong himself, he was just quick.

Rufus pressed his lips to Reno's ear, "Sit still dammit!" He whispered as he tried to sit down on Reno's lap.

"Fuck this shit!" Reno sat up quickly, throwing Rufus to the floor. "I'm not your fucking whore yo! Keep your hands to yourself along with everything else got it yp? And I don't give a damn that you don't like being ordered yo! You're getting ordered and that's that! Either you keep little Rufus in your pants or I'm ripping his head off along with yours yo! If you touch me again I'm suing you! You may not listen to physical threats but I know damn good and well that you'll listen to legal ones yo!" Reno balled his fists in anger as he restrained himself from hitting the man sprawled on the floor in shock in front of him.

Rufus picked himself off the floor and dusted off his shirt. "Fine. Get out of my sight you teasing little bastard."

Reno didn't need to be told twice. He stomped all the way back to the elevator and jammed the button for the hospital floor as hard as he could. He was seething as he made his way back to Rude's room. At the sight of Rude he softened a bit.

"How'd it go?" Rude asked as he sat up.

"Piss-ant tried to jump my nuts again." Reno said as he flopped down into the chair beside Rude's bed.

Rude felt anger lick his insides. "And?"

"And I threw the bastard off. Told him I wasn't his whore and that he needed to keep his hands to himself yo." Reno scooted his chair closer to the top of Rude's bed.

"Good job." Rude leaned back into his pillows with a happy smile.

"Wasn't a hard one. This time I didn't give a damn if I hurt his ass since I wasn't being paid to protect it." Reno propped his feet on Rude's bed.

Rude grunted in agreement. "How's the hip?"

"It's fine. How's the every bone in your body?" Reno grinned.

"Just dandy." Rude felt Reno's feet sift on his mattress as he closed his eyes.

"Good. What should we do when we get home? I've been bored as shit while you were gone yo." Reno closed his eyes. He had spent most of the night awake and worried and he was starting to feel tired again.

"Pizza and a movie." Rude watched Reno as the red-head started to fall asleep.

"Sounds good yo. Wake me when they let you outta here." Reno smiled and fell asleep.

Rude sighed as he watched Reno's features take up the guise of a peaceful sleep. It didn't take long for him to drift off himself but he spent his last few waking moments watching Reno's even breathing, glad to be home.