Chapter Three
Reno continued back to his office. He shut the door and heaved
a sigh. Rude was their, but Luc was nowhere to be seen. "Well?" said
Rude after a moment or two. "She's alright man, don't worry about
it." Rude, as predicted, simply nodded and thought no more of it. God what
a great Turk, Reno thought to himself.
Celces wandered down the hallway aimlessly, she didn't really have somewhere to go, she just had the sudden urge to be alone. Shaking her head she turned and carefully made her way back to her room, being careful that she wasn't seen by anyone. Of course, this floor was usually deserted. She closed the door to her room silently behind her and grabbed a wine cooler and some chips from her kitchen and settled in with her diary and began to write.
Diary,
Today was, odd, to say the least. I have 'friends' now after all of these years it is so odd to me. I don't know how to act or what to say, I've always been so cold to people, because they treated me the same. A long time ago, I started this Diary to keep record of what Shinra is up to should anything happen to me, someone would find it, would know, but that was foolish. Now, well now I just need it to keep track of my own thoughts. I wonder what I should do?
She sighed and closed the diary, setting it on the bedside table, when she was finished with the chips she tossed them aside and made her way to her bedroom. A few minutes after her head hit the pillow she was asleep.
Reno was quiet and thoughtful as he made his way to his room. Brooding, he was a mix of emotions. This new Turk had thrown him into more disarray than anything ever before. He dropped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling as he usually did. I can't believe Hojo would do something like that. That little......grr, somehow we'll get him for that. I don't know how though. I can't believe all the stuff they hide from me! Me! Their most loyal, Turk. The leader of the Turks. Kinda makes ya think, he thought to himself.
When Celces opened her eyes the next morning, she felt like a hundred or so drums where pounding in her head. 'Oh man, I didn't even drink that much last night… And we have to escort the Vice President today… Maybe I can sleep in the helicopter, I hope someone has some extra sunglasses.' She thought as she drug herself from the bed and quickly and sloppily pulled on some cloths, forgetting all about the Turk dress code. On purpose of course.
Reno woke late the next morning, of course. The leader of the Turks, always late. Oh well. Then he remembered the escort. "Oh shit!" he thought as he raced around, pulled on his clothes, and popped an aspirin to kill his hangover. Yes, Reno always had a hangover. Minor though it was, it still was giving him a splitting headache. He threw open the door and stumbled out into the bright hall, immediately shielding his eyes with sunglasses.
Celces stumbled from her room in time to see Reno step from his room pulling his sunglasses over his eyes. "Thank the gods, I'm not the only one who's late. Have any extra sunglasses Reen? I'm gonna sleep in the helicopter…"
"Yeah, catch." Reno tossed her his extra pair and muttered about early hours and stupid orders. "Don't the Turks have better things to do that escort the God damn Vice president!?" Then, realizing that was really what the Turks were, bodyguards, he cursed and was silent. For a moment anyway. "Hey Cel, you got any pain killer? My head hurts."
"I…" Celces looked at the ceiling, the checked the hallway around them, "Yeah something like it." She pressed her hand to Reno's forhead and muttered something under her breath. Her palm emitted an eerie, pale blue, warm, light, "Is that any better?"
Reno's eyes widened considerably. "Yeah, that's, great! What kinda materia is that?" he said, wondering how she could pull such an amazing thing. "Oh wait, you can....do that naturally?"
"Yeah, I don't even know everything I can do… I still have a long way ahead of me to find out though…" she found herself staring thoughtfully at her palm which was outstretched. The pale blue light centered itself and formed into a perfect orb… materia… Her eyes widening she crammed it into Reno's palm, "You don't know where you got this!" 'How did I… Cetra and Jenova… a superhuman? What was Hojo trying to create with me?!' her thoughts ran wild as she quickly headed for the elevator not looking to see if Reno was following.
"Hey, wait, where ya goin!?" Reno yelled as he ran after her. "Grr, I've never seen a person so, grr, damn that Hojo!" Reno was dismayed. Just then he looked at the blue orb of materia in his hand. "It-it looks like a tear," he thought to himself.
She paused at the elevator to wait for him, "I'm sorry… I just have so many things running through my head at once. I can't understand what the Professor wanted to accomplish with me…" Her mahogany eyes were now a deep navy blue filled with unshed tears.
"Neither do I. Right now though, we have to concentrate on our mission. Believe me, you do not want the president mad at you," Reno said with a sigh. "Lets just get this over with, then you can think." With that said, Reno turned and fell into usual silent state just before a mission.
Cel acknowledged his silence and thought it best to remain so herself. As they left the elevator, stepping onto the very roof of the Shinra Building, Celces got her first glimpse of the Vice President. He was rather good-looking clothed in a white trench coat and white pants. He wore a black turtleneck under the coat. His expression, however, bore no emotion and his eyes looked more like the belonged to a forty-year-old man instead of a teenager… 'Oh no, this wont do at all, I'm in no mood to mess with someone without a since of humor…' she thought, an old, almost forgotten smirk crossed her face, forgetting her troubles she slapped Rufus Shinra on the back, "So yer Rufie, huh? Nice ta meet ya. I'm the new Turk." 'That reminds me… I need to call Elena about that position…' her thoughts trailed off.
"Oh god, what is she doing!" Reno thought as he snapped out of his concentration. He looked nervously at his fellow Turk Rude, then at Rufus. Rufus didn't even acknowledge him however and Rude said nothing. Trying to keep order, Reno coughed loudly before clearing his throat and asking the vice pres. his orders.
Rufus gave Celces an odd look, "…I'll have a talk with you later," he said then turned to Reno, "Its not my idea to have you here, so my only order is that you stay out of my way." He turned and climbed into the helicopter. Celces continued to stand there for a second, "Okay… so I'll have to smack him around a bit…" she muttered to herself. "You'd better get in before me Reen, he might try to smack me now." She rolled her eyes, "I need to fish my phone out of my bag real quick too," with that she began rummaging in a small bag she had been carrying which consisted mostly of a few wine coolers, a book, a gun, and her phone.
Reno cringed. That wasn't the way he wanted this operation to go. He'd have to talk to Celces later. Heaving an experated sigh, he climbed into the helicopter. Inside he sat next to Rude, as far away from Rufus as possible in the small aircraft. He looked at the ground, trying to avoid the annoyed look on the Vice Presidents face.
Celces climbed into the cramped helicopter and looked around, there wasn't any place to sit. Catching a worried look on Reno's face she held back a laugh. Finally giving up on all hope of finding room to sit she plopped down into Rufus' lap in refusal to set on the floor. A shocked look crossed Rufus face, "What ARE you doing!" "Getting ready to make a call," Cel replied, dialing a number. Rufus wrestled the urge to shove her into the floor as she put the phone to her ear. He would wait until after she made her call…
The phone rang, and a blond girl nabbed it from the wall holder, "Hello?"
"Elena? Its me Cel." Celces said into the phone and paused for a reaction from the other end.
"Cel! Hey! I haven't heard from you in forever! How is life?" Elena replied from her end of the phone.
"Alright, listen I'm on a mission and am really ticking the Vice Prez and my boss off at the minute. I'm calling about that position I told you about…" Celces replied, laughter in her voice.
"The Turks? You mean I get a shot?" Elena exclaimed from her end of the phone.
"That's right. I'll talk to Reen…er… my boss about a set date okay? See you." Celces replied, fully aware that Rufus was glaring at the back of her head.
"The Turks? You mean I get a shot?" Elena exclaimed from her end of the phone.
"That's right. I'll talk to Reen…er… my boss about a set date okay? See you." Celces replied, fully aware that Rufus was glaring at the back of her head.
"Elena's ready for a tryout anytime Re… AH!" Celces was cut off as a sudden shove from behind sent her sprawling onto the helicopter floor. Rufus kept a strait face for all of two seconds before the o-so-cold Vice President burst into laughter.
Reno jumped from his seat as if it had been electrocuted. For a moment he just stood there, taking in everything he had just seen. Is that...Rufus laughing? He thought to himself. Rude was of course completely unemotional, which left Reno just standing there in the middle of the helicopter with Rufus laughing and the rest looking oddly at him.
"You you!!" Celces stuttered glaring at the Vice President. Just to take some of the humiliation from herself, she tripped the shocked Reno, sending him sprawling to the floor of the helicopter as well. "Hey Reen, when you get back up think you can lend me a hand? I don't fancy the thought of rolling out the door of a moving helicopter…" she laughed.
Reno was seething now, and he could hardly keep his composure. He stood up, brushed himself off, and sat down in his seat heavily. Rude said nothing, but there was a hint of a smirk on his face. Reno noticed it. "Oh God are they gonna get it when we get back! I'll...I'll...," his thoughts were abruptly cut short by Celces clearing her throat loudly.
"Are you gonna help me up?" Celces demanded. Rufus reached down and pulled her to her feet before Reno could reply, "I've never seen a Turk act out like this," he said, still chuckling a little. "Get use to it, I don't like boring people." Celces replied. Rufus took his seat again and glared at her, "Don't even think about it." 'Damn… now where do I sit?' she thought to herself. The look Rude shot her ruled that out. Her gaze fell on Reno and an evil smirk crossed her lips. It happened in a split second. Celces was sitting in Reno's seat and Reno was sprawled on Rufus' lap. Even Rude was snickering at the event.
In five seconds Reno had Rude on the floor nursing a bloody lip. He whirled around, faced Celces, and exploded. The cussing and anger that ensued was enough to shock Rufus' 19-year-old ears far past their age. After his violent outburst, Reno took Rude's seat and sat down, glaring death at Cel. "Just wait till we get back..." he muttered.
Hot tears burned Celces' eyes but she held them back, it was her fault after all, even though she was only playing. BAM! Her eyes flashed red and she slapped Reno across the face. Not only did she not need to hear that, Rufus sure didn't. "Watch your mouth!" she exclaimed, she turned away from him to look out the window, the tears finally falling, but no one seeing. "That was a little harsh…" Rufus whispered to the Turk leader, crossly, it had only seemed a joke to him too. Rude remained silent.
Head in hands, Reno sighed heavily. His cheek was rather sore but his ego was really the thing that was hurt the worst. This operation wasn't going as planned at all. Grr, even Rufus was mad at him! That wasn't good. All he wanted to do was keep his status high, and being humiliated in front of the Vice President was going to help. Then he went and screwed up even more. And Rude was even looking cross. Oh boy, Reno thought, Oh boy...
'Oh great… all I wanted to do was have some fun… What's the matter with him anyway…?' she thought as the helicopter touched down. As they silently climbed from the helicopter, Celces touched Rufus on the shoulder, "If you're gonna yell at anyone… yell at me." Rufus shook his head, "I won't yell at anyone." Reno and Rude were waiting a few feet away. "Lets go," Rufus said loud enough for them all to here and began to walk off. Celces trailed behind the group, "Reno…? Are you mad at me?" she asked, almost childishly.
"Huh? Oh, no, just...a bit embarrassed. You don't know the stories I've heard about Rufus. Guess they weren't true but still, I was sure as hell nervous. I just wanna get this over and done with. Lets go," he said, "the sooner we're done, the better."
"Oh… okay, do we really have to sit through this meeting?" Celces asked, she suddenly looked so tired. Rufus turned around as she caught up with them, "I don't need bodyguards to discuss paperwork with a bunch of politicians. Go on to the hotel if you want." "Thanks," Celces said. She looked to Reno, "Coming to the hotel or heading to the bar?" she asked.
"Hotel," Reno replied. "I need to relax, but not at the bar for once. I suppose your going to the Hotel too huh? I'm sorry for blasting you like I did. Forgive me?" he looked at her hopefully, once again finding himself apologizing, something he use to never do.
"Yup, I'm heading there… I dunno…" Cel pouted, tugging on one of her ears, "My poor poor virgin ears…" Rude had wondered off without anyone noticing, heading for a 'certain' bar. He took a seat at a table with several other men who took off their hates, all revealing baldheads. Celces took notice of his absents as she and Reno headed for the hotel.
"Aww, come on," Reno said, grinning for the first time all day. He was tired, eager to get to the hotel. The Turk noticed Rude's absence as well, but decided not to say anything. Rude was probably still rather unhappy with him anyway. "Poor guy, he didn't even do anything.." Reno thought to himself, ashamed.
"Alright, as long as you don't go beating up Rude anymore!" Celces smiled. When they reached the hotel room, she curled up on the furthest bed near the window and pulled the book, which was actually her diary, from her bag, which she tossed down beside the bed. She flipped to the last entry not wanting to believe it was only a day ago…
May 20, 2086
Diary,
It's only been about 24 hours since
my last entry if even that, but its so odd it seems like an eternity… Rufus
wasn't exactly the cold-hearted jerk everyone has made him out to be. Still
there is an air of coldness about him that chills one so. Reno… well I learn
something new about my boss or should I say friend now? Every day. He knows
more swear words than that famous pilot Cid Highwind! We'll its not really late Diary, but I am tired. Until I write
again…
Reno sat down on the end of the bed, but not before grabbing a drink from the fridge. He was content now, though he'd still have to make amends with Rude in the morning. Well till then, I can sleep on it, he thought as he fell back onto the bed, and turned to look at Cel. She was writing in something, though he couldn't distinguish what. "Good night," he said softly and closed his eyes.