Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy VII compilation does not belong to me. I do not own the characters, story, places etc. They are all the property, copyright and trademark of Square-Enix. I place no ownership/claim on them by using them in this work of fan fiction.

Chapter Seven: No Smoke Without Fire

The office descended into silence as they looked at one another.

Yuffie slowly raised one of her brows, scoffing at him. "Get to know you? That's your bright idea?" It had come across harsher than she'd intended, but she still felt justified in her annoyance.

The President didn't show any signs of negativity upon his face, his tone once again impassive as he spoke, "Yes."

The young brunette laughed, a hint of mockery playing in her voice, "Do you think I'll suddenly fall head over heels with you?"

He shook his head lightly, "Miss Kisaragi, whilst I'm sure it would make things…easier, for you were to 'fall head over heels' for me, as you so put it, I do not think it is a necessity. Cooperation is more important in a partnership of this nature. All I intend is that we get to know each other so as to better understand if and how we could work together."

Her eyes flickered to the floor for a second.

How 'romantic'…

She had always known that she was likely to have an arranged marriage. It was something that happened quite frequently to people in her position, whether male or female. Finding time for 'love' was difficult enough and most that did, didn't usually end up falling in love with someone they would actually be allowed to marry. For a while she had held on to a notion that she would be lucky enough to fall for someone that just so happened to be in a position to fill all the requirements, but that was quickly becoming a fantasy. Still, the thought of marrying someone who saw her as, at best, a bearable prospect and at worse, a political requirement, was something she was struggling to reconcile herself with.

As if sensing exactly what was going on in the young woman's head, the President spoke again, his voice softening, "That being said... It is true, we have many differences, but I see many admirable qualities in you, Miss Kisaragi. I would not consider a marriage of purely political merit if I truly felt no…inclination towards my prospective partner."

Yuffie gave a sad sort of smile, "You're saying you'd be satisfied with me as your partner?"

"Yes." He looked over her, his eyes almost piercing into her own, "And I believe I could...satisfy you."

The intent in his voice was not lost on the brunette as her eyes widened, but found themselves unable to move from his, a heat prickling at her cheeks.

A few moments passed before the young blonde chose to break the tension between them, looking down at his desk with a light, satisfied smile on his lips, "Maybe this is a conversation for another time." He pushed back slightly in his chair as he made to get up, "I'd like us to do something non-assignment related together. I've arranged a trip for tomorrow that I'm sure you will find very enjoyable."

She looked at him with a mix of suspicion and barely suppressed excitement, "Where are we going?"

His lips twisted into something of a rare mischievous smirk, "It's a surprise."

Yuffie crossed her arms with a huff, "I don't like surprises." Of course she was lying, she loved surprises, but right now she was trying her best to be obstinate. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so argumentative, but she was and when she got like in a mood like this, it was extremely difficult to get her out of it. The young brunette began to rise to her feet as if to leave.

Before the President could even think about making to stop her, a sudden tremor rippled up from somewhere below them, the force of it strong enough to knock them both off their feet. She felt the young blonde pull her towards him, as he crouched beside her, attempting to keep her steady as the tremor continued, the floor below their feet feeling like it was about to crack open any moment from the sheer ferocity of it.

It stopped as abruptly as it had started and a frighteningly serene silence fell down upon them, before the screams started to echo through the building.

Reno let his head fall back against the pristinely white wall with a soft thud. This day was dragging already and it wasn't even lunchtime. He'd been told to wait in the hallway whilst Yuffie had her little meeting with the President and unfortunately for him, there was little in the way of distractions. He had hoped that he'd at least be able to pass the time flirting with the secretary, but the usual woman was off sick apparently and the one covering for her was decidedly too male for Reno's tastes.

He let out a dramatic sigh as he stared at the ceiling, failing to stop his mind from beginning to wander back to more pleasurable things.

Flashback…

"Yuffie…" Reno hissed as he watched in concern as the young woman seemingly passed out below him. Reaching out his hand, he gave her shoulder a soft shake, only to find soft breathy snores beginning to escape from her slightly parted lips. He sighed.

Maybe I over did it…

He remained crouched over her small frame for a few minutes after she fell asleep, watching as she sunk into a mesmerising serenity. Eventually, slowly, he made to gently roll her t-shirt back down and over her stomach, before moving her under the covers. Feeling their warm embrace, the young brunette sighed in her contented state, snuggling ever deeper into the mattress.

The red head carefully lifted himself off from the bed and left the room, throwing himself down on the couch with a huff. He hung his head, bringing his hands up and around the back of his neck and rubbing them up and down as if relieving some sort of pressure there.

Well that had been unexpected. He'd intended to go in to apologise for being a bit of a knob earlier. He thought maybe he'd taken his teasing too far, after all he had come to know how sensitive she was about such things.

When he'd knocked on her door he'd thought he'd heard her say something, so had just gone in. There was not one part of him that could have prepared for the sight that had greeted him. She had been so engrossed in what she was doing, that he'd been able to just stand and watch.

He wasn't really sure what he'd intended to do. His normal impulse would have been to make a joke, to laugh at her, to tease her, to relish in her embarrassment, but he had felt himself unwilling to do any of those things. In that moment, all he wanted was to touch her and touch her he had. She'd been so willing, so desperate, it was almost like something out of a film, just the feel of her under his hands was enough for him to know just how much he wanted her.

What would happen when she woke up? What if she didn't even remember? She had been drinking. What if she thought he had taken advantage of her? Had he taken advantage of her? Would she hate him in the morning? What would he even say to her? His specialty was playing things cool, but he wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do this time around.

He lent his back against the sofa, his hands going down to the buckle of his trousers, as he closed his eyes. He wasn't sure how he was going to fix this mess, but right now he had something else to do whilst the feel of her was still fresh in his mind and the guilt was still bearable.

End of Flashback...

Reno closed his eyes for a second, before opening them and sighing once again. She'd remembered, which had been somewhat of a relief, but she was definitely embarrassed by what had happened. He'd ended up going with his usual 'cool' play, what with his little wager of sorts, but now he wasn't so sure that had been a good idea. He might have backed her into a corner and he knew how stubborn she could be. She would never come to him of her own accord now and he knew it was only a matter of time before he gave in; self-discipline had never been one of his strong suits.

The red head was brought out of his possible dilemma by a shock wave which knocked him straight off the wall and almost off his feet.

"What the fuck?", His voice was muffed by the bellowing vibrations sounding all around him, the floor continuing to shake, as he attempted to brace himself against wall.

Everything went still again and he took the chance to catch his breath, before rushing out into the stairwell. He had hoped to find some clue as to the cause of the sensation, but only found screams and smoke drifting up to him.

Reno burst through the door, eyes immediately falling to the brunette, whom Rufus was just helping get to her feet.

"Hey, you okay?" The concern in his voice was clear as he scanned her for injuries.

Yuffie nodded, though a bit unsteadily, "Yeah, I'm fine."

The President's voice rung clearly as he too straightened up, holding his side as if in pain, "Reno, what's happening?"

The red head's gaze flickered to his boss's waist, before returning to his face, "I'm not sure, but there's smoke coming from one of the lower offices, could be an attack."

Yuffie paled, "Attack? Who would be attacking Shinra now?"

"There's no time, we have to get you out of here.", Reno looked to his boss, the unspoken question clear as he waited for commands.

The blonde looked at the young woman for a moment, before returning his attention to Reno, "You take Miss Kisaragi, get her to the safe house. I've already alerted Tseng and Elena; they will attend to me."

The young brunette shook her head, panic rising in her chest, "Wait, what about the people in the lower floors?!"

Rufus gave her a pointed stare, "They are a secondary concern."

She shook her head again, her hair whipping through the air, "No, no! We can't just leave them here!" Her voice was growing more and more frantic, "Let me and Reno help-."

The young blonde brow's furrowed as he remained unmoved, "No, you are far too important, we must both evacuate."

They were all brought out of their discussion, as another shock-wave rippled through the building. As it passed, Yuffie turned once again to the President, eyes wide in desperation.

"There's no time to argue! I can handle myself! Trust me! Please, I'm begging you, let us help. Please!"

The President looked at her for a moment, a darkness edging over his features as he considered her with a form of resentment. His lips tightened as if he really was forcing himself to do something unpleasant, "You are to help with evacuation only, you are not to put yourself in any danger, there will be no engagement of hostiles and once back up arrives you will leave for the safe house. Am I clear?"

Yuffie hadn't hesitated to agree, as she and the red head made their way out and through the hallway. She scanned the room, but the place was empty apart from the furniture and paintings that were strewn about the place.

"Where's the secretary?" Her eyes darted towards the lift.

Reno watched her, before grabbing her arm, "It's not safe to use that."

She frowned, "I know, but do you think that's where the secretary went?"

He shrugged, "Maybe, if he did there's not much we can do right now, other than hope he got down to one of the lower floors."

She nodded and they headed straight for the stairwell. The smoke was getting thicker and they weren't even down a whole floor before her lungs began to feel like they were on fire.

Reno reached out and stopped her in her tracks. She turned to find him taking off his jacket, ripping the sleeves clean off, before dosing them with water from a nearby cooler that had been ripped from it's stand and now lay half empty on the floor. He handed one of the pieces to the brunette.

"Put this round your nose and mouth."

She nodded, grabbing the piece of fabric and tying it behind her head in a clumsy knot.

He spoke as her wrapped his own piece around his ponytail, his voice now slightly muffled, "We'll make our way down each floor, clearing them as we go, there's another stairwell that branches off down the outside of the building. It's never been in use but if we can direct people there, they should be able to get down far enough to avoid the floor that was hit."

She gave him a single nod before they continued to carefully make their way down. The first few floors below them were seemingly empty, apart from the mass of smoke that was starting to fill every corner of the building. Reno explained they were mostly used by other higher ups who had their own bodyguards and that they'd probably already been evacuated, but when they went down to the next floor they found a group of Shinra employees all attempting to open the lift with a chair leg.

Yuffie called out to them, waving her hands above her head in an attempt to get their attention, "Hey! You need to use the stairwell!"

One of them shook his head, calling back with some difficulty, "We tried, there's too much smoke!"

The brunette motioned towards her face, "Use your damn heads! Take off something... your jackets, cardigans, Gawd even pants! Put it around your nose and mouth as best you can and follow us! There's another stairwell that will get you out!"

It took longer than she'd hoped, but they managed to get the group out and through to the other escape route with a bit of coxing and some swearing from the red head. The next two floors however looked like they'd taken a lot more damage from those first few shock waves, as broken glass and blood could attest. They came across a few bodies, but Reno made the call to leave them where they were as 'Dead bodies are dead weight'. It was a point that was hard to argue with.

As they came down the stairs, they found themselves finally arriving at the floor where the blast had originated. It was carnage. The fire was everywhere and utterly uncontrollable as it licked across every surface it could like a wave, doing just enough to mask the blood that covered not only the floor, but the ceilings and walls too.

Reno shouted through the crushing roar of the flames, "This might be too dangerous girly."

She shook her head, "We have to check if there's anyone still alive." Even with only his eyes visible, Yuffie could tell he believed it to be a futile pursuit. She clutched at his shirt sleeve, gently tugging against it, "Please."

The red head relented with a small nod.

The place was almost impassable, with only patches of floor still intact enough to stand on. They had made it about quarter of a way through the room, with Yuffie trying her best to call out, but mostly only managing an unintelligible yell before having to protect her throat from the heat and so far they had only passed people that had long ago stopped needing any help they could possibly offer.

Before long the brunette found herself in front of a small chasm in the floor that she thought she could easily leap across. As she went to make the jump however, her heart sank in her chest as she felt the floor give way beneath her. She had prepared herself to feel some pretty intense pain, but instead felt nothing more than something hard hitting her back as she went tumbling forward. She could hear the rumbling crash of the floor falling in, but found herself kneeling on the part she had been trying to reach.

Urgh…What? What happened?…

Yuffie turned back to find pretty much what she had expected to; a huge void leading down to the floor below, flames creeping up the edges in a desperate need to spread. What she hadn't expected to see and much to her horror, was Reno, dangling down the hole and barely hanging on to a piece of splintered floorboard.

"Reno!" She crawled over to him as quickly as was possible. "Give me your other hand, quickly!"

He looked at her with some hesitation, but threw his arm up none the less. She soon realised the reason for his hesitation when she saw the blood start to leak from his shoulder, through his shirt and down his chest. Her eyes widened, but she had to concentrate her efforts at getting him back up to her. She put all her strength into the grip she had on him so as not to lose it and with some effort, managed to haul him back up to the floor.

"Oh Gawd, are you Okay?" Her eyes were wide and desperate as the blood continued to flow.

Before the red head could even think about answering, they were interrupted by an unfamiliar voice thundering towards them.

"Turk!"

There was a group of perhaps fourteen men, all heavily kitted out in much better gear than they were and currently finding their way around the room. The one that had shouted, came towards them, the red head recognising their uniforms as being from a branch of Shinra Special Forces.

"We have orders to clear this building. This floor is no longer stable. The two of you must evacuate immediately! "

Reno got shakily to his feet, wincing as he grabbed his shoulder, before turning to the brunette, "Come on, we need to go."

They ended up in a rather unremarkable little apartment in a part of Edge Yuffie was unfamiliar with. It was small and basic, but looked to have reinforced windows and the door had an elaborate security lock she'd never seen before.

"This is the safe house?" She turned to Reno, her voice was shaky as she struggled to catch her breath,

He nodded back as he punched some numbers into the door, making sure all the locks were activated, "Yeah, we can lay low here for a while until we get word from the others."

Yuffie started searching around the room, clearly hunting for something, "Is Rufus coming here too?"

"No, all the higher ups will be evacuated to different places. It's not a good idea for everyone to wait in the same location." The red head lowered himself down on the small two seater sofa as he spoke, struggling to remain on his feet.

The brunette mumbled to herself, "Oh right, yeah…" She seemed to find what she was looking for as she skipped back over to Reno, a first aid box in hand, "Let me look at your shoulder."

He tried to push her away as she begun to unbutton his shirt, "It's fine."

She simply batted away his hand with a huff, "Turkey, you're bleeding everywhere and it's gross. Let me look at it."

Reno relented with a sigh, watching with a kind of fascination as she continued unbuttoning his shirt. A light gasp escaped her lips as she took in the extend of the wound on his shoulder, before returning her attention to the first aid box. The young brunette pulled out some sterilised wipes and some heavy-duty bandages and begun wiping gently at the gash that seemed too ragged and too deep not to causing considerable pain.

"Do you know what happened?"

The red head shook his head, wincing again as she continued to wipe away the blood, "No."

She looked at his face for a brief moment, "Do you have any theories?"

He was tempted to shrug, but then thought better of it, "No."

Yuffie offered a small chuckle, "Are you just saying that so I'll stop bothering you?"

The red head struggled to give one of his famous smirks, "No." As the young brunette went over a particularly tender spot, he sucked in a harsh breath and instinctively reached out to grab something in the moment.

The young woman seemed to tense as she gave an awkward cough, "Eh…Reno… Your, your hand."

He looked down. His hand was currently half way up her thigh, his fingers firmly squeezing into her skin. Looking back up at her, he seemed almost expressionless, "What about it?"

"Can you move it."

The red head kept her gaze as he started edging it even further up her thigh.

Yuffie let out a squeak, "Reno! You know that's not what I meant!"

He let out a low, if a little tired, chuckle and moved his hand back to his side, "Relax, I'm just messing with you."

She scowled at him, before beginning to wrap the bandage around his shoulder, "How long do we have to stay here?"

Reno's managed to just shrug his good shoulder, "Not sure. Depends how long it takes to get the all clear."

After Yuffie finished tying the bandage into something that would hold in place, she took a long look at herself. Not only was she covered in a layer of ash and sweat, she now had a good amount of the red head's blood on her too.

Her nose wrinkled a little in disgust, "Gawd, I'm so filthy."

Reno motioned somewhere behind him, "There should be some washcloths in one of the cupboards. It might be a bit basic but you could use the sink and clean up a bit."

The brunette looked over to where the sink was with a sort of longing. She was starting to feel unpleasantly sticky and the thought of feeling even slightly cleaner was extremely tempting, but her gaze returned to the red head with an edge of suspicion.

She didn't need to say a word for him to guess what she was thinking, as he put his hand up in defense, "Don't worry, I won't look."

Yuffie viewed him for a moment longer before deciding that she would have to settle for his words alone as reassurance. As she went over to the cupboards and started to pull out a few of the washcloths, Reno's phone started to beep again and she paused in her tracks, inclining her head to better hear what was going on. Much like this morning, she couldn't pick up on much and the red head wasn't particularly talkative on his end. When he hung up she lingered in silence, hoping he would choose to speak, but when he was not forthcoming, she gave a little cough.

"So…any news?" She tried to make her voice sound less anxious than she was.

He turned his head towards her, but not enough to actually see her; his shoulder preventing him from wanting to move, "We're gunna have to stay here for a bit longer."

"Why?" The brunette's voice rose in pitch, her anxiety now mixing with irritation. When he didn't answer, she took a steadying breath, a sense of dread creeping over her, "Reno. Tell. Me."

The red head brought up hand up to his shoulder to support it as he turned around, making sure to meet the young woman's gaze, "The attack…they think they might have been targeting you."

"Oh."

Yuffie turned back around a little too quickly and turned on the tap, hoping to break the tension with the noise of the water pooling in the sink. She could feel her breath becoming more ragged as she struggled to force the air into her lungs. She didn't bother to check if Reno had turned back around or not as she pulled her top over her head and thrust one of the washcloths into the water. It was still cold, but that hardly matter right now. In fact, part of her preferred it, as the pain it caused helped distract her, but only for a moment.

A thousand thoughts went through her mind as she began scrubbing at her arms hard enough to hurt. Why had she been targeted? Who had targeted her? What had she done? Was it because she was about to become the Leader of Wutai? Or was it because she was here, with Shinra? And then there were the dead. She'd seen them. She'd looked into their faces. She done it so easily because she had associated their deaths with an attack on Shinra, not an attack on her. Now, the images were burning themselves into the back of her eyes, replaying on an endless loop in her mind. It was her fault. They had all died because of her.

She scrubbed down her front as her eyes stared off into the water, the washcloth soaking through her bra, with the fabric starting to turn icy cold as it clung to her skin. She was so far into her despair, she could barely feel the hot prickle of silent tears that had started to stream down her face as they left clear sparkling trails through the black ash that mottled her cheeks.

As she went to re-soak the washcloth, a hand pulled her into a body that felt so much warmer than her own.

"Yuffie." Her name sounded softly in her ear. He so rarely called her by her name. It felt strange. It felt comforting. His arm reached around her torso and pulled her closer; she didn't resist. Instead she leaned her back further into his chest without a word. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, her mind going blank as she lost herself in the sea of thoughts crashing through her head.

As if the waves suddenly calmed, the young brunette turned in his arms and her hand slowly brushed against his chest.

Reno's expression that was once troubled, quickly shifted to confusion as she stared at him. The look in her eyes was all at once completely desolate and utterly desperate. She looked so lost, it made him almost angry. He didn't stop to think, as he tighten his grasp around her waist and roughly pushed his lips against her own.

Author's Note: Bit more action in this chapter! Hope you enjoyed and just a warning, the next chapter will have explicit content.