A/N: I'm sincerely sorry for the lack of update! I really got carried away with the end of high school, I know I'll really miss it, but I just can't help myself from enjoying it too much.
It won't be bullshit when I said that I love writing this fic. I bet most of you guys had also realized the sudden down in no. of FF7 fics for the last couple of months and it was pretty much affecting my fanfic reading and writing mood too, before I got a review (after quite a long time of not getting one for this story) from Dontgotaclue88 which really felt like a slap to my face. So here's the next chapter. Enjoy, R&R.
And a humongous shoutout goes to Grell Waldo and Dontgotaclue88 who also reviewed Love and Sin!
And before I post this, I just finished reading Outcast by FantasticalWhisper. It's one of the last descent FF7 fics that I read these days, it really pumped my own will to write when I read that story, You guys should definitely check it out! Considering if you guys don't hate OCs, coz you're reading mines. That girl can really create OCs which you'll definitely love and young Vincent is there too!
Reno and Rude watched as the black, Shinra labeled chopper landed at the bare forest ground. Tseng appearing out of it before the noisy rotor blades had even slowed its beating around the air, stirring his medium length, jet black locks behind him. "Report." He stated to his lanky second in command who, as usual, didn't bother to take his hands out of his pockets.
"We've got the blue print of the house and its security plan." The redhead filled in before his silent partner suddenly added. " We're ready to go."
Reno continued with a smirk. "Just drop the order." Rude had never failed to amuse him ever since they first met almost a decade ago. If he looked calm enough now, it would be thanks to his partner's silent, unchanging presence beside him since the crack of dawn. Rude had always acted like an anchor to his volatile life, always keeping him checked and stopping him from drifting too far from the dock. He would have to remember to give him the usual thrill that he loved most, later.
The raven haired man nodded in approval before he turned around and walk away. "Proceed to the target, report once you've reached."
Meanwhile, Cloud and Seira who was held captive had fallen back to silence since their last conversation, the first trying to connect the dots while the latter had pretty much dozed off as she thought of an escape plan.
"Sei, Seira, are you alright?" The concerned voice jolted the brunette awake from her light slumber as if her soul had jumped from a great height before entering back to her body.
"What, what happened?" She looked around anxiously and repeated, slightly panting while her heart beat painfully against her chest.
"Are you okay? You weren't answering all of a sudden." Came the blonde's voice after some pause filled with the metallic chain noises again.
"Yeah, just dozed off for a moment." She rubbed her eyes to remove any remnants of sleep but couldn't help but find herself yawning again. Her body felt like lead, it was hard to move as she tried to wake up but fell back on the hard surface instead. It was as if she had just woken up from a bad dream and half of her soul wasn't fully awake yet.
"I bet only you and Reno could've slept in a situation like this." The thought actually made them smile and seemed to lighten the mood as Seira sustained the topic.
"I don't think so, Cloud. He doesn't really sleep that much, you know. Believe it or not, he's more of a morning person than me." The brunette chuckled as she remembered the mornings they had spent together. She missed how Reno always knew how to wake her up without ruining her mood. He was never the subtle one, but he always knew how to treat her as gentle as he could, never treating her as some pathetic damsel in distress but at the right time as if she was a fragile doll which could break with the slightest pressure.
"Really? Anyways, how's Reno doing?"
"He's good...I guess."
"I mean... " Cloud stumbled with his words as well as the chains binding his limbs for a moment. Tifa had reminded him so many times that the Turk's relationship was okay and not worth worrying, but he just couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities of Reno being Reno of the Turks. They had been the villain for quite a long time after all, and this wasn't about him who thought they haven't repented enough in the past 5 years after that day, it was about every other living soul who survived Shinra's reign. "How's Reno and you doing?"
A relationship doesn't only consist of spending time together after all. Sacrifices were also a part of it.
"We're good, Cloud. Reno is...not as bad as he look." The brunette didn't say it in an offended tone, but more like a mother's gentle reminder at her child's silly action.
But still, Cloud found himself embarrassed for doubting the judgment of two of the wisest women he had ever met. "No, Seira. It's not Reno I'm talking about, I mean, you know his job, right. And everyone knows that its way easier to make an enemy rather than friend out of his line of occupation-"
"He's worth it, Cloud." She immediately interjected without giving any other thought to it. Their life had never been so peaceful even without any other additional external conflicts to start with. And come to think of it now, knowing Reno as he is, he must've ponder about the possible outcomes which Cloud had just pointed out to her countless time in his head. Imagining the worst case scenario in his mind until he was sick and frustrated of his own thoughts, she wondered why he decided to give it a try, instead of just blocking her out. If he didn't give up on their relationship, why would she? "I love him that much, I love him as much as Tifa loves you and never gave up on you all those years, Cloud-"
Their conversation was cut short at the sudden loud, screeching noise which greatly resembled a firework at launch. Both of the prisoners immediately reached up to cover their ears and screwed their eyes shut, before crouching down on the floor as the explosion rocked the ground.
"What the hell?" The brunette's voice was drowned by the noise of a wide variety of blasts overhead. What the hell is happening out there? The Turk's weren't even supposed to be here before another couple of hours.
As soon as the bombings stopped, Cloud and Seira recoiled to their feet, the first failing miserably as he had forgotten about his bindings and landed back to the ground on his bottom, while the latter experienced a sharp, blinding pain at her abdomen region and fell on her knees.
The blonde heard the explosions on top of his head which pretty much confirmed their position being underground, followed by gasps of pain from the other room next to his which pretty much said that something wrong was happening. Unfortunately, their rooms were separated by a thick concrete wall without any gaps in between and there was absolutely no means for him to see what was happening next door except by the sounds escaping from the small window on their doors which leads to the same hallway.
Cloud was already calling out her name for a minute or two when he heard frantic footsteps approaching them, followed by the metallic groan of a door opening. While the said man, Ren, who was the one making all the ruckus felt his blood drained as he heard one of the captive's concerned voice calling out to the unresponsive brunette.
Anything could've happened to a woman at her condition and finding her curled up, clutching at her stomach on the floor wasn't enlightening at all.
For a moment, it was only her moans and the pain which had knocked the air out of her and made her screw her eyes shut painfully. Seconds felt agonizingly long and minutes felt like hours. But the pain eventually subsided, or it was only her getting used to the hot, burning pain which had become an uncomfortable dull throb on her stomach. And before she knew it a pair of strong hands had took hold of her arms and hoisted her back up to the cot. The brunette relaxed from the fetal position the pain had forced her into and opened her damp eyes just to find Ren's face hovering on top of her. She was in a daze as she watched his expression for some period of time, there was a grave and worried look on his face, as if he was really scared of something bad happening to her.
And the adrenaline kicked in, she felt everything went so slow yet passed so fast and how her body could move fluidly without any second thoughts. One moment her hands were reaching out to his collar and in the next blur, she had pulled him close and land a blow on his neck before pushing him to the floor with a kick to his groin.
Seira ran out of the dark room and locked the door with the keys that were luckily still hanging on its lock without batting an eye to the groaning man who couldn't even stand up on the cell's floor. She didn't have any time to complain on how her long planned escape had ended up in such a cliché manner as she approached Cloud's confinement two doors next her own.
The sight of his gravity defying, golden locks were rather hard to miss as she tried to open and unchain the large padlock with her trembling hands.
"What happened, Seira?" The blonde asked at the sight of the brunette finally entering the dull confinement. And honestly, he looked better than what she had expected, except for the dirt patches on his dark vest, trail of blood on the side of his head and a busted lip.
"There's no time, Cloud. I'm not sure if the Turks are already here. I hope they are." Seira hurried towards him before dropping to his level to unlock the shackles around his wrists. The brunette was appalled when she saw the condition of his wrists, to such extend that she could feel her stomach's acid coming up again. The whole areas covered by the hard, metal cuffs were a mixed color of bright red and indigo. And she swore she could see raw flesh camouflaged by flakes of dried blood.
"That was the Turks?" He asked again.
"They should be coming tonight. Maybe they changed the plan?" And she asked herself back rather than answering the lost blonde's inquiries, while she raised a hand on top of his now exposed flesh. "Cu-"
"Stop, there's no need for that. Save your energy, Sei. I heard what they did to you." The swordsman took her hand and pulled her up with him instead, slightly wincing at the sharp sting at both of his wrists and ankles.
What little pride he had left was not allowing him to regret not accepting those cure spells.
Reno had sworn in front of Rude and Tseng that he would rip the whole bloody house down and kill any single soul who dare stands in his way if he had to, in order to find Seira and bring her back. But after making their way in with ease, it almost seemed as if he alone was overreacting and making a whole fuss of it as he walked-more like strolled- through the empty hallways.
Reno and Rude's grand entrance (through the back door) had been easy, since they had rendered all the security useless and the sun wasn't even halfway down yet, that they didn't suspect anything wrong when there were no guards to hinder them.
But the duo started sensing this eerie feeling that something was greatly wrong, when they found the room Kyle was in. Finding him wasn't the problem, with the entire ruckus he was making echoing through the entire house as if not a living soul was there, getting him out was one. With the thick, mahogany, double doors and an unidentified lock blocking their way, using brute force was a faster and better option than picking the lock and be like sitting ducks waiting to be caught on the act on the process. They haven't seen a single soul checking on the uproar caused by the brunet alone so far, a few more wouldn't matter, right?
"Where is she?" Reno had spoken with the highest level of desperation in his tone that he had ever remembered hearing once they managed to break in, catching Rude and even the said man himself by surprise.
Yes, the redhead had realized that her presence in his life had changed him greatly. But there were times that it still surprised him to know how far was the effect she had on him, like how gentle he could be to a person, may it be his actions or words, the abrupt change of his self destructing lifestyle and the last but of utmost importance, was his now less effective judgment as a senior member of the former Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department or more commonly known as the infamous Turks.
There was a time that he was one of the most sadistic bastard in town, during Shinra's evil reign, completing a job with whatever skills and means it takes, without involving a drop of his own conscience, during work hours, which pretty much means till the last drop of blood left in your body were drained once you've joined the ranks.
Looking back at those times, it was weird how he could laugh at it and yet still bet his whole gill that he would've died in less than a minute during duty if he had been the changed man he was now. Sloppy as always, minus his 24/7 guards and an extra weakness which he couldn't carry around or store in one place that was in form of a brunette.
But the world had changed, as well as its people, Turk included. And he was willing to take the risk in this evolved planet and see what will happen in the future.
And she was also damn worth it.
After the gathering, it didn't take long for the future in-laws to have an agreement for the very first time since their disastrous meeting. Fujitsu Kino was certainly the one behind everything. And be damned, they were going to make sure that he taste and savor hell through their own hands.
The redhead activated the bombs Seira had planted with his trademark cocky smirk plastered on his face and no hesitation. He knew that Tseng would've killed him if he knew that they haven't acquired any solid evidence, but if her life was in the line, anything which could serve as a distraction to the villain was acceptable.
Reno, Rude and Kyle finally decided to split up when both the Turk's bad feelings were proven to be true. Five minute had passed after the three explosives were detonated and not a single living had showed up anywhere near the sites.
About twenty minutes had passed since the bombs were dropped and Reno was on the edge of his sanity as he opened another door to a random room filled with all sorts of cleaning products and utensils. He immediately slammed the door shut, buried his face in his hands and leaned back on the door before sliding down and gently landed on his bottom.
He knew that he wasn't searching right, but with everything they had just discovered in the last hour, his mind was already screaming that she wouldn't be here anymore. And the thought was killing him.
How will he find her if they had took her out of this area, or possibly out of Wutai? Searching throughout the planet would be time consuming, when time was one of the most important factors of his chances finding her breathing or not.
His mouth was suddenly dry and swallowing hurts as if there was a ball of needles jammed in his throat. It was crazy how many times he could feel this huge sensation of fear in just a single day, he just couldn't help those images of unpleasant scenarios rushing into his head like a flood of memory replaying in his mind.
The corner of his eyes were already warm with moisture as he screwed his eyes shut and dragged his long fingers through his scarlet locks before slamming his head against the hard surface behind him. Once, twice, thrice and a couple more. It didn't help ease the pain inside, but it made his mind unable to think for a moment.
"Reno?"
Apparently it also made him think of something nice like her voice too.
"Reno! Are you okay?"
And her touch on his shoulders.
"Reno!"
And an eye opening slap.
Reno actually thought his mind finally stopped working for a moment. What he saw when his eyes involuntarily opened were more of a punch to his mind, the usual pair of jade orbs that he used to stare when he had the chance, curly, golden brown locks which he loved to weave with his own fingers and those small, pale lips which he always touch with his own.
She was the epitome of perfect in his eyes and he would never let her out of his sight, ever again.
The brunette herself was confused at her lover's reaction, he wasn't moving an inch except for blinking and opening his eyes after she slapped him and finding him slouched on an abandoned hallway wasn't helping ease her mind."Reno?" She called out gently and placed a hand on his cheeks as if he was an old sculpture which could crumble at the slightest touch. And it surprised her how that one, small touch could snap him out of his trance.
Cloud, who had been behind her all this time saw an all too familiar hurt look on the Turk's face before the redhead pulled Seira into his arms and buried his face on her shoulder. The blonde felt like a fool for worrying their relationship if Reno could pull a face like that. He himself had been too familiar with that look a few years ago.
"Goddamit, don't you ever do this to me again." The blonde heard him whisper with a cracked voice, he didn't know if it was either from his covered mouth or his wounded heart. But neither mattered as he turned around and decided to wait in a far corner to give them some privacy.
"Sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm here right now, Reno." Seira felt devastated when she saw the look on Reno's face. How could she make him feel that kind of pain?
How could she give him the need to hold her so tight with his trembling hands that she felt like she was melting into him...?
And melting into darkness...