Chapter 27: Rufus
Reno was just dozing off when the fated phone call came in. Arien had already fallen asleep. The Turks had a trying day; the AVALANCHE members had retrieved the Ancient, and Tseng and Rude, who had been on duty, had a run-in with the chocobo head. The Turks had been called in to clean up the mess and chase after the "escaped specimens", as Hojo had termed the incident; no one had done it with fervour. They just didn't give a damn about the mad scientist's mad desires to "watch some bestiality", was what Reno had said. But when normal business hours commenced, the members of the Investigation Sector had found work on top of work on top of work. Arien had been up since three in the morning, and she had looked as if she was about to pass out when she had gone home. Now she was curled up on her side, her breaths even as she slept.
"What the…" He murmured against the trilling beeps, and reached over the comatose body next to him. A smell of flowers hit his nose; she must have taken a shower before going to bed. He had a sudden urge to touch her, but the phone was still ringing. He leaned over and grabbed hold of it. "'Ello?" He warbled. He listened, then muttered, "huh?"
"President Shinra was found dead at his desk," Tseng was repeating. "We must ensure Rufus Shinra's safety before the executives begin moving."
Arien woke up, despite Reno's best efforts to keep his voice down. Stretching, she rolled over. "Who is it?" She mouthed. Reno covered the receiver with his hand.
"Tseng."
"What does he want?" She asked, her voice sleepy.
"Emergency assignment. Hang on." He went back to the phone to hear Tseng say, "I want all Turks members reporting here within fifteen minutes. Fully armed. The Intelligence has intercepted the orders, but the MPs are already on the move."
"Got it. ETA 10 minutes." He ended the conversation, then threw the phone onto the table. "Get up."
Arien was already awake. "What happened?" She asked as she got off the bed. She was pulling on a pair of pantyhose. "Something about the President?"
"Yeah, he's dead," Reno replied as he pulled his shirt over his head. "We need to get Rufus before the MPs get him and do something. Report within 15, fully armed."
"My rifle's in my office," she said. "And my harness."
"Better get there before fifteen, then, eh?" He was tightening the cuff around his wrist, while Arien strapped her holsters on. Reno sat down on the bed, doing his laces while Arien grabbed both of their phones. They were out of the front door in three minutes, running through the parking as Reno remotely unlocked the car.
"Damn," he said, yawning, as Arien slammed the passenger door. "Can't I get a good night of sleep for once?"
"Apparently not." Arien was putting her hair up as Reno drove out of the parking. She yawned as well. "Where's Rufus anyway?"
"No clue. Not in Junon, at any rate. One of the houses, I guess. Which is why 10-25."
"Oh." Arien opened the glove compartment and pulled out a box of rounds. "Need loading up?"
"Uh, yeah. Spare mags' in there." He continued to drive into Sector Zero while Arien loaded the magazines of his Jericho. She sometimes blew away the errant strand of hair that fell into her face as she loaded the magazines with cartridges. There were only the noises of the engine and the steady click as the bullets were pushed into the metal.
They got to the building faster than either of them had expected; the traffic was sparse and Reno had sped. The front was locked, and Reno swiped his ID down the lock. The door slid open and they ran in, only to find Elena waiting for them.
"Rude and the Director went ahead," Elena said breathlessly.
"I need my rifle." Reno was doing a brass check. He took out his baton and checked the charge; it was fully charged, ready to go.
"Director brought it down before leaving." Elena pointed at the case sitting by the front desk. "And your harness."
"Well, that saved me a trip," she muttered while Reno asked, "Where's Rufus?"
"He's in Sector 3. We have to hurry."
The three began running, Reno in the lead, Elena coming next, Arien behind the two. As soon as they got into a Shinra-issued vehicle, Arien stripped her trousers off. Elena reddened. Arien turned to check if the seat behind her was empty, and saw her red face.
"What?" She asked as she reclined, stretching her body. "Reno's seen far more than this." She brought her left foot up and slid the harness up.
"Yeah, I have," Reno rejoindered. Arien brought her left foot down, then slid her right into the harness as well, and pulled it up. She pulled on her trousers, tucked her shirt in, and began doing her belt.
Elena's eyes widened. Just how much ammunition did this woman need? But upon closer inspection, she realised that some of the magazines were for rifles. Arien was pulling on her jacket as Reno got on the highway. A phone rang and everyone tensed, then Reno said, "oh, it's mine."
Arien dug her hand into his pocket, fished it out, and pressed a button. She handed it to him, who sandwiched it between his ear and his shoulder as he turned the wheel. "Reno here," he said as he cut the corner. "Yeah, on our way. Yeah, I saw. ETA 3 minutes."
Arien, who had also received a call, finished the conversation right after he did. "We have MPs heading our way," she said, her face pale. "AA's trying to scramble them but they don't know how effective it'll be. Tseng's not picking up. We have to hurry."
"Gotcha." Reno stepped on the gas. The nightscape flew by as the Turks raced through the avenues; Arien was checking her phone, monitoring the MP vehicles on the map with a tense face. Elena was checking her equipment in the back seat, her face an odd mixture of expectation and fear. This would be her first real assignment, Reno realised; not the routine checks, but the true display of what they did. Arien had seen them before joining the Turks, but this girl had not; well, either this would break or make her. And either way, it wasn't his problem. He turned his entire focus to Rufus. He parked in front of the house, not really caring it was a no parking area. The house was small, the neighbourhood silent; Arien got off first as Reno pulled on the lever under his seat to open the back. She threw the boot open and pulled out the case she had been hauling around. Elena was stepping out, her footsteps echoing a little loudly in the otherwise silent neighbourhood. It was nearing dawn as the Turks assembled, weapons held ready.
"On the count of three, break down the door," Tseng whispered to Rude. "One…"
"Two…"
"Three!" Rude kicked the door open; splinters flew and the door fell down with a crash and a wave of dust. The house was silent, seemingly empty, but then Rude heard a creaking noise from the back of the house.
"Someone's in here," he whispered.
"Rufus?"
"Not sure."
"No, Rufus is here," Arien whispered. "I see his jacket on the chair."
"Shit," Reno hissed. "We gotta get him outta there."
"Where is he?"
"Probably downstairs." Tseng began hissing oommands. "Elena, front door, Arien, go around to the back. Reno, Rude, get Rufus."
Reno and Rude looked at each other, nodded, disappeared down the stairwell while Arien and Elena did a brass check; the blonde girl moved to the front door, while Tseng moved to the top of the stairs, pistols ready. Arien disappeared into the darkness as she headed out toward the back. Tseng heard some voices downstairs, some muffled acknowledgement. And then he heard "Sir, we have to get you out of here", followed by "Very well" and "Where is my shotgun?". Just as they began hearing footsteps, Elena saw a slight movement in the distance.
"Watch out!" She cried, but the armed men came rushing in. Elena fell back as Tseng fired, shouting "Go back! Go back!". Elena pulled the pin of a grenade and tossed it into their faces as bright light flashed, the stench of gunpowder filling their nostrils.
Reno and Rude heard the gunshots and an explosion. They looked at each other.
"No going out front," the redhead mumbled.
"Do we have another exit?"
"No idea… Arie." The last was to the woman who had come running in, Sig held at the ready. She was breathless as she slammed the door.
"Exit through the back. The way's clear. Go, go! I'll cover."
"Elena and Tseng?"
"I heard him yelling go. We have to leave them behind," Rude pronounced as Reno switched his EMR on, running ahead. The path was already littered with bodies; some were groaning in pain, but the others were clearly dead with bullets in their heads. The three ran, keeping their bodies low, Arien following with her pistol aimed at the house. Reno immediately left to get the car while the two stood guard over the blond man. They did not wait for long before the Shinra vehicle screeched in front of them. Reno hopped off and threw himself into the back seat while Rude slid into the driver's. Arien opened the back door and shoved Rufus in along with her rifle case, making him land on the redhead. She slammed the door shut, then slid into the passenger seat. Rude was already moving the car before Arien shut the door.
"Ow," Reno mumbled as he extracted himself from under Rufus and the rifle case. As Rufus tried to sit up, Reno dove over him. "Stay down, President," he warned. Rufus froze; he was the president now. It had been his ambition for many years, to the extent that he had attempted murders on his father, but now that it was reality, the weight of it came crashing down upon him. And even though he was president, there were his employees trying to kill him, and other employees would go any length to keep him alive.
"Reno, can you get the rifle out?" Arien was ejecting the magazine of her sidearm. "There isn't enough space here."
"Yeah. Hold on." He flung the case open and handed it from between the headrests to the woman. She grabbed hold of it, then loaded the magazine, hitting it with her fist to load the bullet. Rude swerved as a barrage of bullets came raining down upon them. Rufus wondered whether it was safe to load a firearm inside a wildly moving car, but his thought were disrupted as Reno pushed Rufus down onto the seat and flung himself on top of him. Arien turned her head, squinting. That's the MP," she said.
"Get them off our tail," Rude commanded gruffly as he turned the wheel to dodge another storm.
"Got it."
The MPs who were chasing them down the highway suddenly saw two black-clad figures pop their heads out from the car windows. The soldiers held their machine guns ready. Rude was driving between cars above what could even be remotely registered as a speed limit.
Then Rufus heard the sharp repetitive raps of an automatic being fired.
"Faster!" Arien shouted as she stood up, her upper body going through the sunroof as she held the rifle in her hand. Rufus heard the guns being fired. The glass windows shattered around him , peppering the four with shards of glass. Reno stuck his upper body out the window, Jericho in hand. Rufus heard more shots as Reno fired, then a loud crash.
"Got one."
"More incoming. Rude, left!"
Rude sharply turned the wheel, making the car swerve its tail. Other cars screeched in protest as the drivers tried to avoid getting hit. Reno hit his head on the door but Arien kept her hand steady, her rifle firing. As soon as she emptied the magazine, she ejected it, snapping another one in. Rufus felt the magazine drop on him, then bounce on his back.
"Shit, these boys just won't quit," Reno muttered as he reloaded. Rufus heard more shots and a metallic clang as the bullets hit the metal panels of the car. "This ain't getting nowhere." Arien was snapping in yet another magazine; it was fluid, the reloading, and extremely quick. Rufus heard more shots being fired, the repetitive raps echoing in between the rev of hundreds of engines. He heard thunderous crash behind him and a boom. The Turks, apparently, didn't seem to care about the methods as long as it was done.
"I'm out. Either we shake them off or we have to stop them." Arien slid back down, yanking the rifle off from her body. Her sleeve had a cut, and she was bleeding from it; a bullet had grazed her arm. Reno ejected the magazine and slid in another, hitting the butt with his palm and yanking on the slide.
"Shaking off ain't happenin'. Let's go, Arie."
Rufus could do nothing but watch as Reno crawled out from the back window, followed by Arien; he saw her jacket hitch up and saw an unbelievable amount of magazines strapped onto her body as she crawled out, her feet kicking at the back of the passenger seat as she propelled herself out. "Stay down," Arien mouthed. Reno was already crouching, his balance superb, holding out a hand. Arien grabbed it, and the two stood up, nearly falling off as Rude switched lanes. And then Rufus felt the impact as the two leapt into the air. He saw Reno's long legs spread like scissors.
Reno landed first onto the SUV. He switched the rod on and swung as Arien landed on the roof. She rolled and dropped, holding onto the handhold and shooting at the handle with her Sig. The front window shattered as Arien shot at the car behind them, the bullet charged with Fire. The car exploded.
"This isn't gonna end well," Reno muttered as he fired into the car.
"You think?!"
"We can't stay on this car." Reno looked around as Arien fired cartridges into the car without really aiming. They rolled off the car and narrowly avoided getting run over by the cars that were coming behind them. Reno ran, tugging Arien by her collar, and saw a parking space down below.
"Arie! Let's go!"
Arien got up onto her feet. Her trousers were torn down from the knee and she had a cut on her cheek. "Where?"
"Down. Jump!"
The jump would have been too far for anyone else to land safely, but they did, and then Reno was hotwiring a motorcycle. "Get on," he said as he slid the goggles on. "We gotta stop them before they reach the overpass. Thing's gonna get real ugly if that happens."
Arien released the magazine and snapped another one in. "Let's go."
The redheaded man revved the engine as Arien held on. He leaned forward, heading to the expressway again and the general direction of the sirens. They cruised the expressway until Reno caught Rude's car, now looking like a target practice, from the corner of his eyes. He suddenly swung his motorcycle, revving his engine.
Then he suddenly shot down the expressway in the opposite direction.
Arien nearly fell off. "Are you crazy?!" She shouted.
"All of this is crazy!" He suddenly leaned onto the right, narrowly avoiding getting run over by a truck. "MPs to the right!" He revved again as a car tried to crash into them. "Incoming fire!"
"I know!" Arien hollered as she squeezed the trigger. The car behind them flipped over and Arien emptied her gun into the underbelly of the vehicle. The car exploded, and red tongues of fire erupted up into the sky with smoke so heavy the entire pass was obfuscated. Reno rode through, narrowly dodging a sedan as he tilted his body He heard more shots from behind him, the sharp percussive sounds cutting through the din as Arien fired.
"How many did we get?!" She shouted as the SUV crashed into the wall with the driver dead. There was a loud crash and a car flipped over. More fire and smoke. The entire expressway had ground to a halt with the massive accidents they had left behind them. The casualty count would be through the roof, but they couldn't mope about it now. Their first priority was Rufus.
"That'll deter them for a while," Arien muttered as she settled down into her seat. Reno had turned the motorcycle and was now going in the original direction, away from the accidents.
"Not forever," Reno replied grimly as he slid in between two trucks. "But good enough. Let's find Rude."
"This is the worst day ever," Arien muttered as she hugged Reno to herself. "Officially."
Reno grinned. "We'll make it up when we get home."
"Can we get home?"
"Sure, why not? Hey, isn't that your phone?"
Arien let her right hand go and struggled to pull the device out of her breast pocket. "It's Rude."
"Let's hope he has good news," Reno muttered as Arien opened communication. "'Cause I'm not pulling that stunt off again for a while."
Arien shrugged as she hit TALK. "DeVir," she said shortly. "I think we've eliminated any pursuers. 10-53 at bridge 12."
"Roger that. 10-24." Rude must have cut off the line, since all she heard was a silence after that. She slid the phone back into the pocket, and then slumped into Reno's back. "It's been only half an hour. Feels like a day."
"What d'he say?"
"10-24."
"Yeah, well, let's go home."
He cruised off the expressway and got off the vehicle in a dirty alley. Arien finally got irritated with the flapping sleeve of her jacket and had Reno cut it off. The blood was dying the white shirt red.
"Cut that off too," Arien murmured. "I'm not certain who picked the suit get up for our uniform. It's about as practical as Heidegger in a dress."
Reno nearly lost his control at the image, but kept on slicing the fabric with his knife. Finally, the sleeve fell away, exposing a very white and slender arm. He stared at it as she adjusted her holster. Blood was still trickling down; the wound had not had a chance to close with her moving her arms to shoot.
"Want me to kiss it better?" He suddenly asked.
"What did you just say?" She narrowed her eyes.
Reno did not wait for an answer; instead, he bent down, kissing the wound and licking the blood. Arien thinned her lips, and he raised his head, pressing his lips into hers. When they parted, he saw that her lips were crimson; he brought fingers to his lips, and it came away red.
Arien looked at him. He raised his eyebrows in a challenge and an invitation. She raised an eyebrow as well, but was interrupted with a trill of the phone. Reno reached into his trouser pocket and fished it out, wishing that he could have seen her reaction to the challenge. "Hey," he said as he heard the message. "Apparently Rufus had to stop by the HQ. We aren't done yet. Gotta clear the way via ground."
Arien's look was so sour she could have curdled the freshest milk.
"Hey, you have a spare? I'm out of ammo."
Arien pulled out her Sig, flipped it around her forefinger, then handed it to the redhead, grip first. Reno took it.
"Not Glock?"
"My Glock's customised for a left-handed wielder. It ejects the shell into your face if you use your right hand. I'd give it to you, but right now... " She pulled out the magazines for the pistol. "Here."
Reno understood what she meant. Before, they hadn't been pressed, their safety their primary concern; but now, their lives weren't their primary stakes, it was Rufus, and mistakes weren't allowed. He pulled on the slide. It was loaded, ready to shoot; Reno grinned as Arien straightened, her bare arm starkly white against the dark fabric of her jacket. She slapped the butt of her Glock into her Sig in Reno's hand, and he handed his Jericho, which she slid into her holster. The two Turks then turned their gaze to the street.
