A/N: Tried fixing formatting a second time. Just deleted and re-uploaded. And don't worry, I'm going to keep writing even if not many people read. I love this story.

Rated M for sexual content.

Chapter 15:

Reno knew how women thought.

He was a Turk, skilled in perception, deception, stealth, and fighting. But if he were to name the one skill he was better at than anything else, it was reading women. He knew what they were thinking even before they did, and he used that knowledge to get ahead of them prove himself to be whatever guy they wanted him to be. He didn't need the ability to read their thoughts, he already sensed them. He only needed to observe a woman for a few minutes before determining exactly what she was looking for in a man. And then he would become that man.

If he needed to be a good listener, he was; if he needed to be a tough guy, he was; if he needed to be the sensitive type, well, there were just somethings he wouldn't do. And he'd never met a woman who really, truly wanted a sensitive type. Deep down they all wanted the same thing.

He knew as soon as he left Seventh Heaven that Tifa would shame herself into a spiral of guilt. If he hadn't wanted to hide their encounter from Rude, he would have bet his friend that she cried herself to sleep over her delinquency.

He sent her that text when he knew she would be crying to get her to think about him in a more favorable way again. He also knew what his next step toward bedding her would be: He'd have to give up all touching and focus on making her think he could be a nice, domestic guy.

She would be his greatest challenge, but he suspected she would be his greatest reward as well. He could tell that underneath that demure exterior lay a vixen just waiting to be unleashed – and he was just the man to bring it out of her. But if he had any hope of doing so, he'd have to play nice for the foreseeable future.

He currently sat in his office in the new Shinra building, his feet propped up on his desk as usual. He was supposed to be looking through more of Hojo's research, but he had cleverly (lazily) gotten Elena to do his work for him, so afraid she was that he was missing something. He used his day – while pretending to read those boring documents – to scheme his next moves with Tifa. As much as he wanted to return to her bar and rip her top off again, he needed to give her a few days to get over her guilt and miss him. Then he'd return to the bar, and he knew she would try her best to ignore him and avoid eye contact. She'd be too embarrassed about their secret, the dirty little secret that only they knew. She couldn't chance Rude finding out – or anyone else for that matter. The worst part would be that Reno couldn't tease her about it if Rude were there.

He needed to charm her, something he never really had to do before. How did sappy guys do it? Flowers and chocolate? Helping her out with chores? Sex was so much easier. He didn't have to consider their feelings. What was this girl doing to him?

"Reno, if you're not going to help look through the research, take Rude and go patrol!" Tseng called out from his office. He rarely kept his door open but had done so since they began sifting through Hojo's information just to keep the lines of communication open.

Reno's eyes lit up and he offered an exaggerated mock smile. Patrolling the streets wasn't all that fun either, but it definitely beat sitting in the office reading. Of course, that also meant risking Rude asking to go into Seventh Heaven, but Reno was prepared to make excuses.

He gleefully stood up from his desk and sauntered out of the room with Rude following. He stuck his tongue out at Elena on his way out, but he knew she was happy to be left alone with Tseng again.

"Don't die," she said, returning to look at the papers in front of her. Her tone gave no indication that she cared whether they died or not.

"Ah, it's good to see the sun again," Reno beamed as he exited the building onto the sidewalk.

Just a few brave souls were on the street that day, walking briskly to their destination, their eyes darting around to look out for monsters.

It didn't take long to find their first targets: An array of hedgehog pies causing trouble nearby. Their antics were pretty amusing, to be honest, as they sniggered and hopped along, grabbing and throwing anything they found. The Turks watched them outside one business. One of the pies climbed up onto the store's outdoor chalk board and was jumping up and down while another one found a piece of chalk and was scribbling all over the store owner's handiwork. "Inside? Everything you need. Outside? Dunno, monsters," the sign said before the pies ruined it. A few other pies were trying to jump up to see into the store's window, their low cackle could be heard across the street. They chattered away as they continued their mischief. When the store owner emerged to chase them off with a broom, however, things got ugly. The pies stopped snickering and bared their teeth at the owner while letting out a lengthy, menacing roar. Their eyes turned red and they latched onto the shop clerk, clawing at him with their hands and feet.

Reno and Rude ran over to the store and each kicked one of the pies down the sidewalk. Reno jammed his mag rod into one of the pies, creating a comical scene where it outstretched all its limbs and cried as volts surged through its body, its face twisted in pain. Rude punched another one of the hedgehog pies so hard it flew off the shopkeeper and into the window of the shop. It bounced off the glass without causing damage and got back to its feet, holding its head in pain. Rude ripped the last pie from the owner and spiked it.

The one that had hit the window regained its composure and leapt at Rude viciously, but he easily parried the attack, sending the pie flying with a goofy cry. The remaining pies chattered to each other and started running away as Reno began shooting at them with his pistol. They kicked the few dead pies that were in front of the store away from its entrance.

The only benefit to the increase in monster attacks was the emerging animal control industry. Someone had to clean up all those dead creatures, and the Turks' work stopped at the killing part.

They continued down the main road but were thrown to the ground from behind by a pack of guard hounds.

"This is getting insane!" Reno said as his face was on the pavement.

Rude was also on the ground with a hound clawing at his back. Reno reached out his mag rod to electrocute the beast that was attacking Rude. His friend returned the favor by kicking the hound that was tearing at Reno's suit collar. Back on their feet, the two Turks killed the guard hounds easily. It seemed like they were weakened by something. Rude examined the corpse of one of the beasts and found it was covered with lesions.

"What did this?" Rude asked his comrade. Reno shook his head.

"I don't know, but I don't want to stick around to find out," he said.

They managed to walk a couple blocks before they noticed something out of the ordinary. This particular block wasn't right. Nothing was moving, which was expected, but the Turks just happened to catch the anomaly out of the corner of their eye as they crossed to the next block. Something was amiss. This block had an extra house all of a sudden. It hadn't been there the last time they came this way, and it couldn't have been built that fast.

There was something else about the house that was off, besides the fact that it was in the middle of the side street. There was no door, no windows, and there was a crooked crown molding shelf around the outside of the building.

The duo slowed their walk but continued onward. They could hear the sound of wood and metal clattering behind them as if a bunch of materials were being shifted in a work zone. They turned around to see no movement, just that the odd house was no longer in the middle of the side street but closer to the corner they had just passed. They turned back and walked forward once again. The sound returned. They spun around again and the "house" was now on the same street as them, even closer.

Reno and Rude narrowed their eyes at the building suspiciously, looked at each other, and then turned around once again. As expected, the sounds of moving lumber and metal started again, this time louder and more frantic. This time when they turned around they could see the house was standing on four metal legs and had arms sticking out of its side where windows should be and a freakish head where the front door would have been. The monster blew a massive cone of fire at the Turks. Reno jumped into a nearby alley, rolling as he landed. Rude performed a roll dodge into the middle of the street. When he stood up, he noticed the cuff of his pant leg was on fire and shook his foot to put out the flame.

Reno ran at the – creature? Beast? Possessed construction? – with his mag rod charged and his pistol blasting. He dodged to the side of the building and dug the mag rod straight through the dry wall. Rude resumed a flurry of punches and kicks to the front of the hell house until it sputtered and collapsed into a pile of rubble.

"Was that… sentient?" Reno asked, examining what was left behind.

He could not see any form of creature inside, even though he had seen arms and a head contained within the structure. All that lay on the ground before him was broken pieces of wood and piping.

Rude shrugged and turned away from the monster, thinking it was best not to think about it too hard. There were any number of wacky creatures in the world, maybe there really were sentient things that resembled homes.

They resumed their patrol warily, now suspicious of every building, car, and street sign. What else might come to life and attack them?

They had little time to ponder what they had just fought before they spotted a pride of zenene's casually strolling up the middle of the street. Every so often, one would break away to inspect a nearby building. At other times, they would fight each other if one bumped into another. Reno dreaded fighting them, finding them particularly difficult to look at. That, and only he was allowed to have such bright red hair. One of the skeletal creatures sniffed the air, despite the fact that it had no cartilage to form a nose. It snapped its head toward their direction and started to growl. The rest of the zenene's quickly followed suit, even a pair that had been in the midst of a fight. They were all staring at the Turks now, and began slinking toward them as they prepared to strike.

Reno groaned and readied his weapons once again. This town was getting way too dangerous. More importantly, it was taking up too much of his time – time he could be spending scheming and drinking.

Reno cracked his neck just before the first beast lunged at him. It got one good bite in, but a mag rod to the neck caused its swift demise. Due to their emaciated state, the zenenes fell quickly, but after hours of fighting, the Turks were exhausted regardless.

By now they were just a block away from Seventh Heaven. Salvation. Rude staggered toward the front door as the sky was turning dark. He paused when he realized Reno wasn't right beside him.

"You coming?" Rude asked, stiffly.

Reno remained in the sidewalk. Going in tonight – just two days after his encounter with Tifa – would be too soon. It was Monday, his plan kept him from the bar until at least Thursday, giving her ample time to wonder if she would ever see him again. That wonder would surely be mixed with hope – hope that he hadn't gotten enough from her and hope that her suspicions that he was more than a Turk would be confirmed.

He hesitated and looked off down the street, back the way they had just come. He then looked down at his feet, trying to think of what he could say that would not arouse suspicion.

"Nah, I'm getting kinda bored with the talent here," Reno said. "I'm gonna go check out that new place on Mako and 5th."

Rude nodded and made a sound in his throat. He had been around Tifa without Reno before – just a couple days ago, in fact – and he could do it again. But things were different now, and he really wanted his friend's support.

Reno headed off back toward the new bar while Rude entered Seventh Heaven and took his usual stool at the bar. Tifa smiled warmly at him when he entered, but he noted something faint in her expression, like she was missing something. She continued to dry a glass with a dish rag and re-rack it before grabbing a new glass for Rude's scotch.

"Welcome back," she said in a rather chipper mood.

"Thanks," Rude replied, taking a sip of the drink Tifa placed in front of him.

She returned to assisting other customers for awhile as Rude busied himself with his drink, unable to think of anything to say. Things seemed to be exactly as they had been before their date, with Tifa working and him trying to come up with conversation topics but failing.

She seemed to just breeze through the night, though Rude noticed she appeared to be waiting for someone. She kept looking at the door expectantly whenever someone entered. She had done that for awhile after Cloud first left, but her need to check who was entering her establishment dissipated in the weeks after. Now she was at it again. Maybe she had heard from Cloud, Rude thought. Or maybe she was looking for someone else.

A hot stinging sensation burned in the back of his neck as he remembered what Elena had previously said about "one of them" making a move, referring to himself and Reno. He also suddenly thought back to the other day when Tifa accepted his date offer and Reno whipped around in his seat to find a woman for the night.

Okay, all three of those things could have completely innocent explanations, but Rude couldn't help but feel a pit growing in his stomach. What if?

After a few hours – and more than a few drinks – Elena and Tseng entered Seventh Heaven and joined Rude. The bald Turk was now convinced he saw the smallest hint of displeasure escape Tifa's face when she acknowledged their presence.

He shook his head. He couldn't go down that road just because his date with her hadn't gone that well. His mind simply must be playing tricks on him because he was exhausted and injured and now liquored up.

Meanwhile…

Reno didn't have a particular type of place he preferred. A popular bar like Seventh Heaven was fine, so was a dive bar, and so was a place like Elixir, a loud and harshly lit dance club. The only lights were neon colored and swirling around a dance floor and DJ booth. Black lights provided most of the illumination, but hot pink and lime green dazzled in quick flashes, cutting through the simulated fog. Reno made his way to the bar, which had a dark counter but bright white back lighting that nearly blinded him. He ordered his usual scotch and scoped out the dance floor, bringing his glass to his lips.

It was difficult to zero in on one woman in a situation like this, but Reno knew what he was looking for. He needed to get the sex out of his system before he returned to Tifa later in the week, otherwise he wouldn't be able to help himself and might abandon his carefully crafted plan.

He was scanning the room while leaning back on his elbows on the bar, dangling his glass over the edge casually. He wanted a specific type of woman, one that was similar enough to Tifa Lockhart.

There were several brunettes in his field of vision. One had short, curly hair. One was fat. One had no breasts. Another looked promising. She had long dark hair and a decent enough body. Her tits were practically hanging out of her leopard-print halter top. They weren't as big or perky as Tifa's. In fact, they kind of sagged. The skin on her face was also cracked and leathery from sun exposure, but she was pretty enough. She was a good enough look-a-like to satisfy him for the evening, so he weaved through the crowd until he was dancing with her.

She turned to look at him and smiled, approving of the man standing before her. They danced and kissed for just a few minutes before Reno popped the question. The woman readily agreed, and he led her into a back room. He wanted to get this over with so he could go home and sleep. Each day was closer to when he could see her again.

The woman he pulled from the dance floor was satisfying enough. Once they were alone she got on her knees and unzipped his fly without him even having to push her head down. It meant he didn't have to look at her face and could just watch long dark hair moving back and forth from his hips as her lips surrounded his cock. When she tried to look up at him he'd just push her head forward. He didn't need to see her. Her actions allowed him to close his eyes and think about Tifa lying half naked underneath him. He was able to imagine that she was in this storage closet on her knees before him. It was enough to get him close…

He grabbed this other woman under her arms and pulled her back into a standing position. He then turned her around so she was facing away from him, and he lifted her skirt. It was then that he noticed she had no ass and a tattoo on her lower spine of a rose.

"Typical," he thought, rolling his eyes.

He pulled a condom out of his pocket and unrolled it on his cock before entering the woman. Usually he would ensure the woman would be left thinking about him long after he left and he reveled in the fact that he was often the best lay these women ever had. But this woman served a specific purpose, and he really didn't care what it meant for her. He just needed to get his rocks off.

She still came. He did as well a few minutes after, stopping himself from saying another woman's full name.

"Teeeee-fuck…!" he said as he filled the condom.

He caught his breath before pulling out of the woman, who turned around and tried to kiss him. He turned his face and removed the condom before tossing it into the back of the closet. He zipped up his fly and buckled his belt and without another word, left the woman in the closet before quickly and silently slipping out of the club and into the night. The woman remained in the closet for a moment, feeling rejected and confused.

A larger police presence took over at night to keep the monster population down. Reno had no interest in fighting any more creatures tonight. He was spent, and just wanted to get home and get through the next few days.

He kept to the shadows and sides of buildings to avoid detection and managed to make it back to his apartment on the East Side of Edge. Turk work had paid him quite well, and he lived in one of the more expensive apartment buildings in the city. He, of course, was too lazy to decorate so he purchased a fully furnished unit. It was cold, sterile, and monotone, with white walls and Berber carpet and sleek, black leather sectionals. There were no photos of friends or interests hanging on his walls, and it was sparsely decorated, mostly with abstract paintings that lacked color. His bedroom was no different, with a dark gray bedspread that was unmade and modern dark wood furniture. A pile of dirty clothes was the only "decoration" in the room that he contributed.

Reno removed his suit jacket, gun holster, and mag rod as he entered his home, tossing the first two items carelessly on the couch. He brought the mag rod with him into his bedroom and set it gently on top of his dresser in its charging station. He unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it on the pile of clothes that was just about in need of washing. He collapsed face-first on his bed after removing his pants and shoes and remained in that position until morning.

Three more days until he could see her beautiful face again.

End notes: I know this chapter didn't really go anywhere but we haven't had a monster attack in awhile – and it's still really bad – and I needed to show what Reno's days would be like without Tifa.