A/N: Hmmmmm, well I'm hoping I won't be quite as distracted by Bleach, now I've finished watching the English ones over. Aaaaaanymoo... here's another update for ya.

Enjoy

Chapter 11

"I was wondering how long it would take you to leave that bed." Tseng said distantly as Reno entered his office.

"Huh?"

"You don't seem like the type to want to stay still for long." He replied blankly. "Right, what do you want?" he put the papers in his hand on his desk and looked up at Reno expectantly.

"I dunno… Carrie told me to come see you." Reno shrugged.

"Ah, ok then." He stood up. "I have a… proposition for you. I assume you won't want to stay where you are currently… living?"

"Not really…" Reno said, wondering where this was going.

"Carrie's family own a lot of apartments in this area, that Shinra regularly rent for employees. There happens to be one spare. It's not much, but I should imagine it's better than you're used to." Tseng told him. "What do you say?"

"Ok…" Reno said unsurely. He frowned at Tseng, expecting him to go on. If he had learned one thing in life, it was that nothing came for him without a catch. "What's-"

"There's no catch." Tseng said suddenly. "Here's the key. Go and find Carrie and she'll take you home."

"This ok for you?" Carrie said smiling at the astonished look on Reno's face. Tseng was right; it wasn't much, but it was a marvellous place to live. They had just entered a small, yet cosy living room.

"Yeah…" Reno said slightly breathlessly. "It's great."

"You got anything you need to get from your old place?" she asked him, still smiling.

Reno shook his head. "Nothing."

"You haven't got anything at all?" Carrie asked shocked. "Wow, Tseng was right. You do have it rough."

Reno smiled weakly and put his hand in his pocket, pulling out the little black book.

"What's that?" Carrie asked, peering over his shoulder.

"Photo." Reno said quickly.

"That's you?" Carrie said, pointing to where Reno stood in the picture. "So is this your family?"

"Yeah… that's my sister Rihanna, and my mom and dad." Reno said. He looked at the picture longingly. "They died."

"Oh…" Carrie said. She clearly didn't know what to say at the risk of upsetting Reno. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry about it." Reno closed the book and put it back in his pocket. "What's past is past."
"True…" Carrie seemed to not want to look at him. "But I…"

"Topic change?" Reno suggested, smiling. Carrie looked him in the eyes and couldn't help but smile back. "

"You got a key?" Carrie asked. Reno held the key in the air hooked on his finger. "Okay, well… Tseng told me to tell you that he wants you at work at 8 A.M tomorrow." She told him. "Is there anything you need?"

Reno looked around. The apartment seemed to be pretty decently furnished, and he couldn't think of anything that he could possibly want, so he shook his head. "Thank you."

"It's nothing. You can't go on living like you did. I mean… I don't know anything about your life, but I'm pretty sure, just from the way you look now that it wasn't enjoyable."

"Yeah… you could say that." Reno sighed and sat down on the couch.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see ya."

He was alone, and despite the fact he had spent most of his life alone, everything was strangely quiet. He could usually hear the traffic, or drunken yells from the streets, but here he could hear nothing. He shook his head slowly; he had told Carrie there was nothing he needed to get from his old home, but that wasn't entirely true. There was plenty worth taking, but he didn't want to. He had just made a decision to himself, probably inspired by his job opportunity, that he was going to forget his old life, and try and make up for the corruption that had been in his mind all his life. The drugs, the alcohol, the unnecessary violence; he would end it here. He looked up at the pristine white ceiling; and for the first time he could remember, he smiled. Not a fake smile, nor a smile to comfort someone else, but a genuine smile.