Chapter 6
For the second time that day Reno emerged from a thick veil of steam. This bathroom was a bit smaller than the one in his apartment with only a shower stall instead of a bath. He took his time fully drying off and made the short trek to his room. His suite at the headquarters was fully furnished and stocked with the essentials but he seldom stayed there. If he had a late night on the job and was too lazy to drive home then he took advantage of the comfy little apartment.
Reno scarcely showered more than once a day. He was either too tired or didn't care to as long as he couldn't smell himself. Tonight, however, was different. If his mother woke to a sweaty, mangy-haired assassin she'd never except him.
He fished through his closet for another uniform but his search was fruitless.
/probably all at home.../
There were some shirts and slacks that he picked through hesitantly. He had planned on wearing his Turks uniform. That was who he was, after all, and he wanted his mother to know him for being himself...
...even if he was a cold-hearted killer.
But that wasn't right. He didn't easily admit it but he was nowhere near as ruthless as he had been under ShinRa. Yet Reeve had a lot to do with that. Fortunately, Reeve wasn't in the habit of assigning assassinations. The Turks normally served as his bodyguards whenever he traveled or as head of security while he was at headquarters. Sometimes he sent them to investigate company problems or see that a shipment made it to Midgar safely. He never asked them to kill someone even for his own purposes as ShinRa had.
That's not to say he wasn't still as dangerous. The last Neanderthal that made that assumption found his ass planted on the bar floor. No one insulted Reno and survived intact enough to even whisper the ordeal.
Well, his mother didn't have to meet that part him immediately. Actually, it was a part of him he'd rather she didn't meet at all.
He pulled out an olive-green polo shirt and some black slacks that were clean and got dressed. As he stood in front of the oval half-body mirror in his room his brow creased with indecision.
/Leave the top two unbuttoned, just the top, or button them all...? /
He didn't want to walk in there like a thug, but he also didn't want to look like some prep-school graduate.
/If I leave the top two undone I might seem a bit...*untamed*/
He allowed himself a boyish grin at the thought but it slowly fell as another thought crossed his mind.
/What mother wants an "untamed" son? /
Reno let out a sigh of frustration / Ah...what the hell. / and undid the top two buttons with annoyance. He studied his appearance as a characteristically mischievous grin found its place on his handsome face. Leaving the top two undone reviewed just enough of his bare chest to give lookers a taste of his finely toned muscles...the fruits of years of labor as a Turk.
/Heh heh...what's there not for a mother to be proud of? /
Being done with that he ran a hand through his damp fiery locks. Using a black rubber band, he put it all back in a ponytail that slithered down between his shoulder blades nearly to his waist. With one last smirk at his reflection Reno grabbed his PHS and nightstick off the dresser before leaving his apartment for the clinic floor.
When he walked into his mother's room he almost assumed there was no one else there until Jean looked up from a little desk in the corner. Her breath almost caught in her throat. When she rediscovered her voice she offered a polite apology.
"I'm sorry sir, you just startled me."
"It's a'ight. How is she?"
The nurse was already surprised by the physical transformation of the hotheaded Turk but he seemed to be a whole new person. His gaze no longer scrutinized her actions for cruel intentions. Instead, he seemed calm enough, if not a little nervous.
"She seems healthy. I was just reviewing the results of her blood test. There is a low level of Mako running through her circulatory system but it isn't doing her any harm. She isn't suffering from Mako poisoning."
She walked over to some monitors and studied them as she spoke. "My first guess was that she was infused with Mako like they used to do in the old SOLDIER program, but her levels aren't nearly as high. You guys found her...do you have any ideas?"
Reno had been listening quietly during the whole update and was taken a little off guard by her direct inquiry. He didn't know if he should tell anyone else about what they saw in the underground lab. He thought about what Elena reported to them as they looked around the lab.
/ "...the mako enhanced solution they're in was made to preserve their bodies to the fullest." /
Well, he didn't have to tell her everything...just enough to help his mother if he could.
"She was in a preserving solution with some Mako."
"You mean something like formaldehyde?"
"I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything like that. Just a Mako solution."
"Well, whatever was in it, she doesn't seem to be suffering any lasting affects from it other than the Mako in her system. She should even regain consciousness by tomorrow if she remains stable."
Reno pulled a chair up beside the bed and took one of his mother's hands in his own.
"I'll be in the main office if you need anything sir. Please notify us if she wakes up."
Reno nodded in affirmative as he squeezed his mother's hand. It had been so long since he'd held her hand...
It was pretty warm and soft against his fingers.
The only source of light was the small desk lamp Jean had been using before she left. In the dim light, Reno noticed her face wasn't as pale as it had been a few hours ago. He glanced at a digital clock on the desk. It was going on eight thirty. The day sure had gone by quickly.
He idly smoothed back her hair. He didn't know what to do with himself. After twenty years he was with his mother again and he didn't know what to do.
/ Here's a crazy idea: you could let her sleep.../
That was a thought but he was anxious to speak with her.
"C'mon mom. Wake up and give me a smile.."
There was no response as he expected.
::sigh:: "That's ok then. I can wait...it'll be worth it."
He folded his arms on the bed and rested his head on top of them. All he had to do now was wait.
Tifa idly sipped her hot chocolate and watched it swirl around in her cup. She had only been in the cafe of Reeve Power Co, or the RPC cafe as employees called it, one time. She had to admit their drinks were pretty good. The hot chocolate she was drinking at the moment tasted suspiciously close the kind her mother used to make her back in Nibelheim.
Not that she was complaining.
She couldn't wait to take a hot shower. He shoulders and upper arms were sore from her lengthy climb up and down the tunnel. Cloud agreed to take the train back to the bar and pick a few things for them like come clothes. Elena had simply showed them where their rooms were and left for her own apartment. Now she was bored, tired, and sore.
The brunette folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them. Now that she had loads of time to herself, her thoughts wandered off to Reno and his mother. How she felt the pain in his eyes when his mother fell from the tank and landed in his arms. She couldn't imagine the anguish in seeing one's own mother suspended in a tank like some freak specimen, stripped of her human dignity.
Her own mother passed away when she didn't recover from a bite wound. She couldn't remember all of the details but she was on a picnic with her mom and dad at M. Nibel when a herd of Sleeples attacked them. Her dad made her run while they tried to distract them but they put a sleep spell on him and bit her mother twice. Tifa had run back to the town to get help but all they could do was scare away the rest before they injured her father as well.
At least Tifa could say her mother's cause of death was common. Reno's mother, on the other hand, was imprisoned and forgotten in that horrid tube.
/I wonder how she's doing... /
Tifa finished her drink and left a few gil on the table. Cloud wouldn't be back for another hour at least. The cafe was deserted except for two waitresses behind the counter talking quietly and putting away some glasses. They hadn't been much company for the last twenty minutes...why should they be now.
She left the cafe and headed around the corner. From down the hall she could see a faint light gracing the hallway in front of her. It was coming from her destination so she followed it. When she got to Reno's mother's room she stood in the doorway unable to move. There was Reno, head resting on the bed as he sat in an armless waiting chair. He appeared to be sleeping from his breathing.
/Aw, who would have thought.../ He looked so peaceful...
She stayed where she was, not wanting to wake him but in his guarded repose, he sensed her presence and woke with a little jump.
He didn't say anything at first...just watched her curiously. She offered him a shy smile and came over to the bed. His gaze morphed into that of suspicion as he followed her harmless movements.
"How is he doing?" The question was harmless enough. He even picked up traces of unfeigned concern. Yet, he still felt the need hold back a little.
"She's resting."
"Oh."
/Not really in the mood for conversation. I should have gone to Rude...nah. He's just as bad. /
Then she tried from another direction.
"She's very beautiful... " she began with uncertainty. "She looks so much like you."
At first she didn't think he would say anything. He studied her eyes a moment and replied almost inaudibly.
"Yeah..."
/He isn't making this easy... /
She was running out of appropriate things to ask him but then she had an idea.
"What is her name?"
It took him a while to answer but he didn't seem to be having trouble recalling the name...he could never forget it. He was deciding whether or not he should tell her.
"Giovanna. Giovanna Hstadin"
Tifa was proud having finally coaxed more than three syllables out of him. However, she was wracking her brain for more ways to wangle a conversation out of him. She didn't need search long when Reno tensed in his chair causing it to squeak a little in protest. Tifa looked to his mother in time to see her slowly lift her eyelids.
It was like opening a jewelry box to reveal a pair of studded emerald earrings. They, like Aeris', held a natural glow except they weren't they same resplendent green but a shade of aqua.
She blinked several times in an attempt to clear her foggy vision then glanced around the room. There wasn't much light but the smallest amount assaulted her sensitive irises. Tifa turned the lamp towards the wall to ward off some of its light.
"Where am I?" Her voice was severely parched and weak. The question was addressed to both of them but Tifa didn't want to intrude. Reno bravely took the floor.
"You're in a clinic. You've been unconscious for quite some time..."
He waited nervously for her to say something but she just stared into his eyes. He couldn't hold her gaze for long and adverted his line of vision to the bedpost. He could still feel her studying him with her eyes. Then he felt her warm hands on his face. He closed his eyes waiting for the revelation to finally hit her. Her soft hands tenderly felt the smooth skin of his scars and gently turned his head from one side to the other.
"How can...who..."
Tifa, feeling drastically out of place grabbed a Styrofoam cup from the cabinet under the desk and went to fill it with water from the marble water fountain in the hall. Reno and Giovanna were alone for the moment.
"You were found hundreds of feet beneath this building in some sort of underground lab. You've been out the whole afternoon. How do you feel?"
"Like I know you..."
She certainly wasn't making his job easy.
"...Yes. You were apparently trapped in that lab for over twenty years."
/Here's the biggy... /
"I'm Reno...your son."
She began shaking her head and her eyebrows narrowed in confusion.
"No...my son is home waiting for me. I have to go to him...he needs me."
He didn't say anything. He told her with his eyes that he was telling the truth.
Tifa came in with the water and Giovanna gladly quenched her thirst. Then she continued in a stronger voice.
"I must go to my son..."
"I telling you the truth. I am your son. Please believe me..."
She searched his eyes for signs of untruth but only found sorrow.
/But my little boy...my little Reno... /
Her hands were on his face once again. This time they both closed their eyes as she wondered over the smooth skin of his face.
The revelation sunk in. It was her son...her heart told her so and she couldn't believe otherwise. Tears slowly streaked her face as she excepted the truth.
/I've missed his whole life. I wasn't there... /
He wiped the tears from her face with the back of his hand.
"I've missed you..."
She let out a sob but gave him a heavy smile.
"I know."
Tifa knew she should leave. Her eyes were moist as well. She should find the doctor to let him know that one of the patients was finally awake.
She slipped out unnoticed and took her time finding the main clinic office. Reno needed some time alone with her. They had the rest of their lives to catch up on each other even though it would be both a painful and joyful task. It would be tough but if anyone could do it, Reno would be the one.
Author's Cackle:
Kinda lengthy...
This was a pretty calm chapter but I just had to get Reno's mom up. The next update may be a while. I have 4 tests/quizzes this week. I'll try to get the next part up in about two weeks or so...maybe before then.
Keep checkin for more and let me know what you think!!
Wanna name the chapters?
Aim here: drunkpoodle@yahoo.com