My only excuse is my keyboard is partly broken. Anyway, major warnings for this chapter. You'll find the specifics if you read.
He remembered the day he got that tattoo. Reno had finally become a Turk after being arrested and pushed through vigorous training, but he came out of it for the better. He was alive, he was happy and he was on top of the world. He'd finally seen what the sky looked like, felt the wind on his face, tasted the bright scorching sun, everything Lee had wished for him.
The tattoo artist had given him a bit of a weird look when he heard the red-head's request, but gil was gil and several hours later Reno was marked with the symbol of freedom he always wanted.
But now hearing Cloud's cautionary tale of the angel who burned up in the sun, he was wondering if wings were really what he wanted.
Cloud could only stare dumbly at Reno for a moment before everything finally clicked. "What?"
"Didn't you hear me? Shinra is under attack! By Genesis! Man, I dunno what the fuck is happenin' but Tseng didn't sound good over the damn phone."
"He's attacking? Why would he do that?" Anything that happened yesterday was completely forgotten and he shot straight up, still in his hospital clothes. They would have to do for now.
"Fuckin' beats me, yo! Jus' one moment it's all good an' the next-" Reno was cut off by the sound of sirens outside and the sudden flashing of red lights. Shinra had gone onto full alert and if Cloud strained his mako enhanced ears, he could hear the faint sounds of explosions.
"Come on!" Reno said, pulling Cloud upright and to the door. Once it slid open, the blonde had to hunch over and cover his ears, the sirens were so loud.
"I know, I know, just follow me!" Reno seemed to be shouting as he dragged the new SOLDIER along by the arm to places unknown. In the panic of the moment, Cloud just let the Turk lead him to wherever he wanted to go, trying to get used to the sudden cacophony that had spawned around him. This is definitely not the best way to get introduced to enhanced senses, he thought grimly as Reno kept shoving him through different doorways, past people who were running around like their heads were cut off.
He only looked up when Reno had stopped and was saying something to him. Cloud removed his hands, only to find himself back in the infirmary somehow.
"Get your stuff, quick! We need to get you out of here!" Reno gestured at the room, which was eerily empty and silent. The attack had just started so the medical personnel were probably all out on the field-either that, or not here at all. The blonde didn't rightly care at the moment, just rushing over to what used to be his bed and retrieving all of his belongings while Reno kept an eye on the door.
He found a SOLDIER 3rd uniform there, oddly enough-probably a present from Zack-and quickly changed into that, trusting it a lot more than the medical clothes he'd been put into. He scooped up the Odin materia, his father's book, and various other materials before returning to the entrance, only to find Reno being accosted by several small crawling robots.
Two or three of them were already smoking wrecks on the floor, thanks to the red-head's EMR, but the rest were quickly swiveling around to surround the Turk, shooting out bolts of low level electricity. Cloud rushed forward, aiming a kick and surprising himself when a couple of them went flying into the wall, leaving robot-shaped scorch marks.
"Man, am I glad you got your enhancements before this happened," Reno panted and Cloud stamped on the last one to kill it.
"I hate these stupid ankle-biters!" Cloud growled, kicking at the twisted remains and checking for any more of them. "Are you okay?"
"Fine as daisies. Let's get goin'. Cissnei says there everywhere an' they need help on th' upper levels. Let's go." Reno signaled down the hall and the two took off.
The three days Cloud was unconscious, Reno kept having nightmares. Not that he didn't get them before, but this time they involved real people and real things and were the scariest thing he'd ever seen.
"Hey Lee, why do you want to get out of the slums?"
"Easy question there, squirt. You think I want to live like this?"
"No really, Lee. I want to see the sky. What do you want to do?"
"The same thing, Red. See the sky. Feel the wind. Dream. An' of course make loads of money. That's the important part, huh?"
Reno had laughed. And later, when Lee was dying in his arms, his blood staining as red as his hair, Reno had cried for the first time.
"Lee, you promised!"
"And so did you. Promise me you'll get out of here. Promise me you'll see it rain."
It was stupid and melodramatic, but he did. Reno promised to see the blood-red sun, and years later, after selling his soul to the devil, he did. Even when he became a Turk and started making loads of money, as he called it, Reno still had those dreams.
Nights full of monsters, and nights full of blood, but it was only in those three days Cloud was unconscious that Reno dreamed of him.
And this time it wasn't Lee's blood.
No matter where Reno and Cloud went in the building, the monsters found them. First it was wierd spiders crawling from the cieling, then a pack of coeurls, and finally a full-on Genesis replica which the two had barely managed to defeat without being skewered alive. The robots were easy compared to those guys.
"Okay, this is fuckin' ridiculous! What is with these goddamn creatures!" Reno yelled to the finally empty hallway, strewn with corpses. Cloud had managed to pick up a sword off one of the dead SOLDIERs they had found-something that had upset him greatly-so he was faring better, but not by much. The adrenaline that had rushed into his system had made him forget everything but his own survival, and now Cloud was regretting his phone had gotten lost, wanting to call Zack and make sure he was okay.
Reno, however, was already ahead of him, typing furiously into his phone as the lights continued to eerily go off around them. "Fuckin' shit, he brought a summon…"
Cloud was about to ask what he meant, when Reno looked up from the phone, his face grim. "Rude an' the other Turks are havin' trouble around the entrance. I need to get over there an' back them up. There's also reports of a summon somewhere on the upper levels an' the General is requestin' you go take care of it while we try to protect the bigshots. Can ya do that?"
Cloud stood there numbly a bit before it finally dawned on them they had to split up. "What? Yeah. Okay, I can do that. Wait, how's Zack? Where is he-"
"Literally he just texted me saying he was fine an' askin' the same thing. Stop worryin' about your boyfriend and get going!" Reno said, attempting to shove him down the hallway. It didn't really work anymore. Cloud just gave him a glare and ran off, not even bothering to say something back. He really was starting to have a bad feeling about this.
Now that Cloud wasn't with him, the going was much easier, only furthering Reno's suspicions about what Genesis was after. The blonde SOLDIER had something weird going on with his mako, and he was sure that for whatever reason, probably related to his experiment, Genesis wanted him alive.
Well, over his dead freakin' body.
Okay, not quite dead body, as Reno still didn't believe in sacrificing himself dramatically for his friends, preferring them both to stay alive, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to help the idiot out. He was a Turk, and Turks protected their friends.
Even if the were maddening, infuriating, amazing blonde SOLDIERs like Cloud was. Genesis would have to suck it.
His phone kept beeping like crazy from all the messages he was receiving as he took the stairs down a few at a time-never trust the elevators in a time like this, he learned-and were it not for the risk of falling face-first on the ground, he was tempted to look at all of them. Yes he knew the building was under attack; there wasn't much he could do about it now!
Sliding down the banister for the last couple of flights, he finally arrived at the bottom, only to burst out of the door at the Shinra lobby and realize there was something very wrong. The normal employees were vacant, but a few dead troopers and monsters were lying all around. Reno quietly stepped down to the bottom floor, suddenly feeling like he was almost disturbing something, when he saw the prone bodies of the other Turks thrown against the desk.
"Rude! Tseng! Cissnei!" He yelled, rushing forward, which was his first mistake. Tseng's eyes slowly opened and widened, attempting to shout when a red-gloved hand reached around and grabbed onto his Reno's neck.
If it wasn't for the terrible situation that had been forced on him, Cloud would've felt amazing. He still did, able to decimate the robots and monsters in one blow, if he aimed well enough, but it didn't feel real to him. It just felt all like an elaborate, realistic dream, and he'd wake up and be weak again.
Either way, he fought his way through various monsters, trying to reach a roof access, when he heard a very familiar voice.
"Seth? Seth!" Cloud shouted, taking a detour down a hallway, where a group of coeurls had converged on a pair of bodies. Zack's training thinking for him, Cloud's sword flashed out and the monsters dropped dead, one by one.
"Cloud? Cloud, oh sweet Goddess it's you!" Seth sobbed, once the air was clear of blood and monsters. The SOLDIER kneeled next to his friend.
"Are you okay?" He asked, looking the bigger boy over. Seth just shook his head, tears falling from his eyes and Cloud's stomach started twisting up painfully again. "Seth, where's your brother?"
He merely made a choking noise, pointing across the hallway. "He-he won't wake up, Cloud! Can you help him?"
Cloud turned around, only to see what he was fearing-Rin was lying there, his body torn up by the coeurls claws so it was barely recognizable. His blood had splashed everywhere, having stained Cloud's shoes and gloves as he rushed forward, desperately checking him.
"Rin? Rin? Are you-Rin, no!" Cloud said, desperately searching the boy's empty eyes for something of his friend still there. He knew that entering Shinra, and pledging his life to become a SOLDIER, he'd see terrible things, but…
"Rin? Why? Come on! We were gonna celebrate! You made SOLDIER, you idiot!" Cloud yelled. It had never struck him his friends would actually die and he suddenly remembered the vision of Zack covered in blood. His imagination started working in overdrive, and now he was seeing everyone of the people he cared about torn up underneath him. Zack, Reno, his mother, Tifa, Angeal, even the infallible General.
Cloud's stomach twisted until he could handle it no more and he stumbled to the side, throwing up. He kept throwing up, until he stomach twisted and he coughed, nothing more coming up. Pain prickled at his eyes and it wasn't just the pain making him cry. He remembered Rin alive and well, standing there and promising to drag him and his own brother out drinking because they made SOLDIER, gently teasing Zack when he told them they were all still underage. He was alive. He used to be alive and now all Cloud could remember was his ripped up body and his dead eyes. Swallowing his fear, Cloud reached over and closed the boy's eyes, giving him at least a little dignity before returning to his brother on the other side.
"I'm-I'm sorry. I was so stupid," He started to say, but Seth hugged him before he could finish.
"He died protecting me. He died because he wanted to be strong and a hero like you," Seth said, "It's your fault, but in a good way. I've never been more proud of him."
"But he's dead-"
Seth shook against his shoulder. "I know! I don't want him dead either, and I want nothing more then to call him an idiot, but he did it himself! I can't be mad at that. I just hope he'll…forgive me..for being weak…"
Cloud's throat was painful as he struggled not to cry, but Seth didn't have that problem as he mourned the loss of his only brother.
"I don't think…this is for me..I don't think I can go on. Can you…?" Seth asked, finally pushing away from the blonde SOLDIER. "You're the strongest person we know. Can you remember him and us? Can you get Genesis?"
He was being asked to promise again, calling him strong. Where had they gotten this idea? He didn't feel strong, attempting to scrape his way through all of the terrible things. Half of the time he felt like he was drowning and just pretending to survive, but everyone kept saying that. They couldn't carry on, so maybe it was time for him to believe everyone, since he couldn't believe himself.
"I promise," Cloud said.
"ˆThe wandering soul knows no rest," A silky voice said behind Reno. "You're a very hard person to catch, you know."
Reno couldn't speak, much less move, with the red hand wrapped around his throat, practically crushing his windpipe.
"You see, a little bird told me I'd find Jenova cells here that could save my life. I know Hojo had hidden them in Nibelheim, but you idiots decided to set her free. But then Hollander let me know the esteemed Professor had hidden another cache of cells in a very unusual place." The grip slid around and tightened as Genesis came into view, peering directly into Reno's eyes. The red-head's hands desperately scrambled at his own neck, but Genesis was on the rank of Sephiroth; otherwise known as impossible for a Turk to defeat.
"At first I thought the blonde boy who had the gall to stand up to me, but no, he didn't have the taint we all carry," Genesis continued, not paying attention to Reno's protests. He was getting air, but barely, and he couldn't focus on anything but his constricted throat. "So I wondered, what exactly would Hojo do?"
Reno had no idea what the renegade SOLDIER was getting at, too focused on not dying and the Turks slowly waking up behind him. He'd thought it was Cloud too, due to the monsters that kept attacking, but there was something weird about this whole situation.
"You, my friendly Turk, are a very unfortunate person. Jenova cells in your left eye, and you didn't even realize you were being used." At that statement, Reno froze completely. Jenova cells? What was Genesis talking about?
"Yes, poor puppet of the Goddess, I am here to take your misery," the black-winged SOLDIER murmured, as if quoting a play. He reached up another red glove to run his thumb over Reno's left eye, which blinked in protest.
He was the host for Jenova? And not Cloud…Reno remembered all the pain and headaches, losing vision and the indescribable change that had come over his eye that one time he returned from his week-long hiatus; his iris and pupils had looked exactly like Sephiroth's.
So that's what Creep-show has been doin' to me this whole time…Reno was fairly certain he'd be more disgusted if he wasn't currently being strangled to death. But, so lost in his sudden realization that he didn't realize what Genesis was doing until it was too late.
The red gloves reached their thumb and finger into his socket and ripped out his left eye, and suddenly Reno was screaming his vision blurring crimson. There was a distant flash of vision before the stem from his eye was cut and suddenly he was falling onto the ground, gasping for air, and his hands covering the bloody hole that used to be his left eye. He could barely see anything, and he didn't want to, he just wanted to die from the horrible pain. Turks were trained to take torture but this was just too much-
No, he could deal with this. He swore he'd survive no matter what and it didn't matter if he was missing an eye or twenty. His good eye was still leaking tears and he felt like doing nothing more than curling up and stabbing himself to die, but instead he force his shaky limbs to stand. Genesis was saying something, and so were the other Turks, but he didn't care. The adrenaline was making him stand up, and the adrenaline was going to help him kill the fucker that had his left eye between his gloved fingers-
"Hey Lee, what do you think rain feels like?" Reno asked, looking up as his foster brother. Lee just sighed, running his hand through his slicked back red locks.
"Well, I think it'd feel a bit like crying."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, water falls from your eyes when you're sad, so I guess, rain feels like water falling from the sky like that."
"Does that mean whenever it rains, the sky is sad?"
Lee just laughed, the little arrow tattoos on his face dancing, as he reached down to poke Reno in the forehead.
"Idiot, the sky isn't alive!"
Years later, when he'd felt the rain for the first time, Reno wondered if Lee was really right about that. And now, when he finally knew what the blood red sword finally meant, he wondered if he could see the rain again; he wondered if the sky could cry for him.
Cloud rushed down, waiting in the elevator, which proved to be his undoing. The numbers ticked by slowly, too slowly, as he paced around the interior. He didn't know why he felt like he needed to get to the lobby, but he had to get there, or something terrible would happen. It was like Aerith's voice that warned him the first time he met Angeal, only it wasn't her speaking. Cloud gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to punch the controls, feeling the mako's strength surge through him.
Rin reminded this wasn't all about him anymore. He had people he needed to protect.
The elevator finally beeped and he didn't even wait for the doors to open fully before shooting through them. Looking down, he could see bodies and a black-winged man, and Cloud let out a shout. That was the second mistake and Cloud realized it as he skidded to a stop in front of a stand-off between Genesis and Reno.
The two were so focused on their fight between each other that neither had heard the blonde enter. Reno, hearing his friend's cry, turned around in surprise, and Genesis's eyes widened unable to stop himself as he stabbed the Turk through the chest.
Outside, people looked up in surprise as it began to rain.