"Stop messing around, Reno. You're going to hurt yourself worse." Rude criticized from his desk while Reno did tricks in his wheelchair in front of him.
"But I'm bored."
"I thought you said you were going to start listening to me."
"I don't remember that."
"How convenient."
Reno smiled at him. "Well I'm still bored."
"Well, you should have thought of that before you took off your shoes in an old mako testing facility."
"I didn't burn my feet on purpose, yo!"
"Fine, then why don't you use this time to catch up on paper work."
Reno let his head fall back dramatically. "You're no fun at all, Rude. Besides, I think I still need some practice with my wheels."
Rude watched him tilt the chair back at a precarious angle.
"Reno please, you just got over a concussion, if you hit your head again–"
Reno's hand slipped and he caught Rude's panicked look as he fell back. He waited for the strike but suddenly found himself motionless, suspended at an impossible angle in the air.
"Well hello, blondie." He smiled up at the small woman who had caught his chair just in time. She stared down at him for a moment before righting him.
"I'm looking for the Turks." she said unenthusiastically because deep down she knew she'd found them.
"That's us, honey." Reno piped up.
"That's what I was afraid of." He shot her an offended glance but Rude intervened.
"You're probably looking for Tseng's office, right?"
"Yes, the Director wanted me to report directly to him."
"I'll show you the way."
"Hey, wait!" Reno called as they headed for the door. "Why are you going to see Tseng?"
"I work for him now."
"You do?"
"I'm the newest Turk. Nice to meet you, my name is Elena."
She didn't wait to hear his name and he just stared after them as they left. "Hey wait!" He called and she paused outside the office. It had glass walls on the side facing the hallway and though they blocked most noise she paused and looked back in on him. "Thanks for the save!" He hollered.
She smiled and kept on going.
Elena nervously entered the room. She had been afraid to come all day. It was evening now and the doctor was not happy that she wanted to go because Reno had already had two visitors that day and was exhausted but she wouldn't take no for an answer and so she'd gotten inside.
The lights were off but she could see he was awake so she turned them back on.
"Hey, Reno."
"Hey, Elena." He sounded tired but sat up by way of greeting. Her eyes fell to the straps. "It's okay." he whispered slyly. "Rude let me out of them for most of the day."
"That's good. How are you feeling?"
"Better. The doctor thinks he has the right dose of medication now."
"Oh good." Her voice was off and it was easy to tell she was nervous. He smiled.
"It's okay, Elena, I'm not going to go crazy on you."
"You're already crazy, Reno." She smiled at him and he grinned.
"Yeah, I am that. But so are you, all Turks are."
"True enough."
"I brought you some pudding."
"Oo, the stuff I like from the vending machine?"
"Yeah, I tried to think of something better but its what you always get so–"
"It's great." She smiled and opened the container she'd brought and pulled out the spoon. She looked at his strapped down hands but he just opened his mouth so she filled her spoon and placed it in his mouth. She spoon fed him in silence until her spoon was scraping the plastic bottom.
"Thanks." Reno said.
"You're welcome."
"Elena?" her face was strange.
"I should go, Reno, the doctor didn't want me disturbing you anyway."
"Oh, okay."
"Good night."
"Night."
Elena turned out the light and left. She made it a few feet down the hall before dropping the spoon and empty container and curling in on herself in silent tears.
Reno walked down the long corridor to Rufus Shinra's office. He ran a hand through his hair, so much had happened. All the stuff with that group called Avalanche and then the President was killed...and Rufus was in charge.
Everyone was stressed. He opened the door and slid inside, not knocking, not even thinking to because he never knocked. Rufus used to scold him but he'd given up a long time ago. Their relationship was strange, beginning rather roughly, but they were about the same age and had spent a lot of time together since then and each had saved the other's life more than once, so after everything, he supposed they were friends.
So he stopped short when he saw Rufus bent over in his chair, staring at a small object that he fiddled with in his hands. The lights were off and the only light was what streamed in from the large office windows. When the door shut, Rufus's head shot up. He tensed but then seemed to relax seeing who it was.
"Oh Reno, it's you."
"Hi Boss, uh, I can come back later if you want."
Rufus shook his head no, but just turned back to the object in his hand. Reno moved closer to the desk when Rufus still didn't move and took a seat on the edge and stared down at the young man in the chair.
"Is that the watch I stole?" Reno asked when he saw what Rufus was holding.
"It is." Rufus said, finally sitting back. "But I got it back, didn't I?"
"Don't I know it." Reno said jokingly, but rubbing his arm at the memory. It still ached sometimes, especially on drizzly, dark days like this one.
"It's funny isn't it? How life turns out."
"Yeah."
"This was a gift from my father when I was very young. In fact, I asked him for it. He had gotten a new one, and this one was older and less valuable. I had better ones he had already given me, but I wanted this one. He wondered why, and I just said I liked it. I think he thought it was silly but he gave it to me. I wanted it because it had been his, because he wore it everyday for so long. And then I forgot why I wore it. Until you stole if from me, that is, and I wanted it back so desperately. But then I forgot again. And I wore this when I betrayed him. I was wearing this when I saw his body. And it took all that to make me remember, once again, why I wanted this watch so badly."
Reno listened in silence. It was a difficult situation. Everyone knew how messed up the relationship between Rufus and his father had been. Not many were particularly sad that the bastard was gone. And Rufus had so calmly swept in to take his place. But right now, the man who sat before Reno was nothing more than a son full of sorrow and regret.
"Yo Rufus, it's a nice watch, man."
"Thank you, Reno."
"Come on, let's go."
Rufus looked up at him. He wasn't aware of any scheduled meetings for the day.
"Where?"
Reno shrugged. "I dunno, somewhere other than this place." It had been in this room that President Shinra's body had been discovered just a few days earlier. "Let's go for a helicopter ride, it's a nice day."
"Reno, it's raining."
Reno shrugged. "I like flying, any day is a nice day long as the winds stay down."
Rufus gave him a flat look but stood. He slipped on his watch and Reno slid off the desk.
So much was happening. So much had to be done. But once they left the ground, there was nothing they could do about the world below. They were timeless, burden free. The sky had no demands, no restrictions. So, just for a while, they escaped reality.
Three days passed. Reno hadn't yet been allowed to see Tifa, or rather, the other way around because Tifa would have to come to him. And she was very busy at the moment, the doctors wanted every detail possible about Reno's stay with her and Cloud.
Rufus has sat in on some of the conversations. He'd gotten an idea of what Reno's life had been like and the ways in which his mind had slipped. He walked confidently into Reno's room, covering the worry that was etched deep inside him.
"RU..fus..."
"Expecting Rude?"
"Sorry. Nice to see you, boss. Any chance you've come to get me out of these?"
He pulled on his restraints.
"I'm afraid not."
"I swear I won't leave or do anything."
"I put my trust in the doctors, you should too."
"I'm so bored."
"You are supposed to be resting."
"But this is just making me restless. Seriously, boss, why don't you try it? I'll get up and you lay here and I'll strap you in and leave you here for three days. Then we'll see if you're bored."
Rufus smiled. "Reno, I don't need to be strapped to a bed for three days because I haven't been missing for weeks and I don't need to be on bed rest from my wounds and medication."
"I can do all the resting I need without these straps. In fact, I can do all of that from my own bed."
"Reno, drop it."
Reno flopped back on the bed in frustration and pulled against his wrist restraints out of habit. Rufus could see bruises around his right wrist– the other was of course protected by the cast.
"Reno, stop pulling on them, you're hurting yourself." He saw similar bruises on his ankles.
"I don't mean to." Reno said. "But its like picking at a scab, I can't help it, I just want it off."
"I know, be patient."
"Not my strength, yo. Can't I have a tv or a book or something?"
Rufus shook his head.
"Why not? I'm strapped to the bed, what could I do?"
"I don't know, you're the Turk. You're supposed to be an expert at these things, that's why they're being so strict."
Reno made a frustrated noise.
"Well at least your medication seems to be working better." Reno stiffened slightly at the mention of this. Rufus noticed and continued. "I heard you were being resistant."
"I don't want to talk about it." Reno said, suddenly demure and turned his face away from Rufus.
"Okay, Reno, that's what I'm paying the doctors for anyway. But you know, the sooner you accept it, the sooner they'll let you out of those straps."
Rufus didn't see the look that crossed Reno's face. He didn't realize his mistake. He just clapped Reno on the shoulder with the instruction to get better and left.
"Thanks...boss."
So sorry for the confusion earlier, yes I did accidentally upload a chapter from one of my Bleach fics, here's the real deal, enjoy!
Riza
