-Disclaimer- I don't own Final Fantasy Seven, nor do I own its characters and places. I own this Fic.
Part Five: This Is Your Mission If You Choose To Accept It
Sephiroth was having daily meetings with Katedona, unknown to anyone in the Den except Reno. He would just declare he was leaving and do it, no questions asked.
Presently, he stood there speaking with her.
"I believe they've discovered it," Kate warned him.
Sephiroth replied with, "It will mess with the man's head. Maybe wake him up a bit. Back on the topic, if you don't mind, the time is drawing close."
Kate nodded. "Mere days. You're sure this is what you want to do?" she queried, twirling a bit of her red hair between her fingers.
"If we decide not to, it won't be by my word. Is that good enough for you?"
Kate was silent, seeing the rhetorical question posed.
"Others have seen me. Should I get rid of them, or just send them off with a 'warning?'" was his next question, a smirk planted on his lips.
Kate frowned. "Both are the same thing, correct?"
"Indeed."
"Whichever," came the end of the curt statements. "Why's he even cooperating with us?"
Sephiroth changed the subject. "Do you have my maps yet?"
For three weeks, Sephiroth had been waiting for a layout of the entire city, and so far, he'd gotten absolutely nothing. And now, they had four days to put his plan into action.
Kate nodded, but stayed silent. After a moment of that, she asked again, "Why's he cooperating, Sephiroth?"
"Blackmail. Do me a favor and send out our team."
====================================================================
"Ten."
"Fifteen."
"Nine."
"Thirteen's your final chance, Puppet," Sephiroth snapped, now standing with the leader of Claratish, Cloud Strife.
"Twelve and a half is as high as I go," Cloud replied coolly.
"Twelve and a half it is, but if we succeed, I may expect more."
Cloud nodded. "We close at twelve and a half for now, then." He took the pen from his desk and looked at the line where he was told to sign.
He didn't know if the threat would go through, even, but he wasn't one to take chances anymore. The ex-AVALANCHE member sighed heavily and signed in black.
Cloud Strife, however, was signing away a life.
====================================================================
Tifa looked oddly at Reno, who sat on the bench outside the cafe, staring into space. This had been happening a lot, along with some bad dreams, but now it was getting more frequent with each passing day.
The coffee in his hand was burning his skin, but Reno Drannor felt he deserved it for going along with Sephiroth's plan. He finally snapped from his daze and turned to meet Tifa's eyes, which had seemed somehow more beautiful than usual.
It was sure now, the two were in love with each other. Even a person who just saw them looking at each other could establish that fact.
Winter hadn't let up any, and breaths came in showers of ice crystals, but something eventually got to them and they just kind of faded from the face of the Planet.
Ah, how much Reno would've liked to be one of those right now.
Oddly enough, Reno reminded Tifa of Vincent Valentine at times; he would just stare at something unseen to others, but she had known what was going through Vincent's head. Memories of the ShinRa Mansion, Lucrecia, Hojo, and others.
Reno, however, was hard to read, and she had been constantly asking what was wrong to no avail.
A beeping interrupted their thoughts, and Reno fumbled with the phone in his pocket, standing up and walking casually into an alley. Once there, he pressed the device to his ear and sighed, letting Sephiroth know he was there. "What?"
{"I've the maps, a date, and I am cleared with Puppet."}
"You're telling me this, why?" Reno prodded, rubbing his temples with his free hand.
{"I'm giving you four days to do what you need to, Drannor. Don't waste them."}
The phone went off with a click.
Reno put his own back in his pocket, then walked back out onto the street to take his previous spot, glancing to the clock inside the cafe as he did. It was opening in a few minutes.
A few more minutes closer to four days later, was all Reno could think about. He looked over at Tifa, his stomach tight. He wanted to tell her; wanted to blurt out everything, but he knew he wouldn't live long enough to do anything about it if he did.
He looked down the street and silently cursed himself to see a man in his late teens strolling toward them. This wasn't what he needed, and, seeing the cold gaze of emerald green eyes locked upon him, he knew this wasn't going to turn out well.
Reno was about to stand up, but two men emerged from opposite sides of the street and strode to stand at his flanks, the three looking like the walked with a purpose.
Tifa must've noticed them, too, for she shifted and softly asked, "Friends?"
Reno didn't reply, only looked at the two new men.
One had red hair, much liked his, but it stood straight up, making him look like he'd gone through a vacuum cleaner. He wore a leather jacket, various piercings on his face.
The other was too far away to see, but he soon took up the lead, and Reno had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as they curved and started straight for him.
It was then he saw the leader's face.
"No," came out in a rasp, his throat tight.
Long, light brown hair tumbled down his back, hi eyes like staring into two frozen pools of water. The three arrived, and the two others were recognized as Marcus and Nang.
"Well, well, well," Cero muttered, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "Looks like the lone Drannor rides."
Reno, looking for something to fire back, said the first thing that came to mind. "You didn't die with all the other crap in Sector Seven?" He immediately regretted it, for he could almost feel Tifa tense on his other side.
"How 'bout we play a little game a' Dani with yer friend here?" Marcus suggested, sharing a laugh with Nang.
Tifa was clueless as to what this meant, but she could see the wave of fire sweeping over Reno's eyes.
"How'd you wind up in Junon, loner?" was Cero's next question.
Reno was silent as Cero snapped his fingers and Nang and Marcus pulled them off into an alley, not even trying to resist. Nang was larger than any of them, and even Tifa's blows didn't loosen his grip.
Once in the alley, Cero lit a cigarette and looked around. Seeing no one was there, he pulled out the switchblade, which Reno immediately recognized and growled lowly at, then turned to look at Tifa. "Well, Reno, you get to see two deaths -- by the same person and weapon -- and then I'll finally give you yours."
"Boss," Marcus hissed. He was gripping Reno in a full-nelson, and it was so dark that no one would've been able to see them if they'd stared in there from the street.
"What is it?!" came the reply, covered in vehemence.
Marcus chuckled lightly and nodded at Tifa. "You sure you wanna kill 'er?"
Cero looked offended. "Of course! What else would I -- . . .oooh. What fun," he muttered, smirking like a loon.
It took a minute for this to sink in, but when it did, Reno was sure he broke his arms and lost his voice, thrashing against Marcus and yelling.
"Silence him," Cero demanded.
Quick to oblige, his 'minion' gave Reno a punch in the face and a hard slug in the stomach, making him crumple and gasp. Reno gripped the very concrete, as if that would somehow hurt Cero, as he tried desperately to refill his lungs while coughing on his own blood.
Cero looked thoughtful, then shook his head. "It'd be too loud out here. . ." He looked at Tifa, his eyes swirling in madness.
". . .Which means we need to find someplace else."
Marcus grabbed the back of Reno's shirt and lifted him over a shoulder casually, looking to Cero. "Back to the place?"
Cero nodded and snapped his fingers a second time, nodding in approval when Nang had Tifa in a grip she couldn't escape with the hardest effort.
They were about to leave when. . .
"Psst!"
Marcus was the closest to the call, and, when he looked over, was the first to be hit with three bullets to the neck. He gagged and dropped Reno from the full height of his shoulder, his eyes bulging as he gripped for his throat and crumpled to his knees, writhing in pain.
Nang was the second. It took over five shots to send him down, but none even came close to Tifa.
Cero, looking around like a trapped heron, made a hasty retreat from the alley, disappearing around the corner.
Tifa was so preoccupied with the safety of Reno that she didn't even notice their 'savior' until Reno looked at him, then he had both of their attention.
The sight was shocking.
Vincent Valentine stood there, shrouded within the shadows, but even his presence gave his identity away. He looked at them both with cold eyes, keeping his impassive facade of a face. He still wore his red cape; still held the Death Penalty; still looked just like he had years ago.
"Vince?!!" Tifa shrieked, half-scared, half-elated.
Vincent didn't flinch, nor did he blink an eye. He stood there a moment longer before slowly striding to them with a curt nod. He bent down and whispered a few things to Reno, unheard by Tifa, before standing back up. He then proceeded to walk calmly after Cero, or at least in that direction.
Tifa was now frozen in confusion, but then she was even more in the dark when she looked down and, from a bit of light in the alley, saw how pale Reno'd gone.
"Reno?"
The ex-Turk stared after Vincent. He'd heard it. Vincent knew the whole plan, from the date to how it was to be executed. What this meant for now, Reno could only guess, but he doubted it would be anything good. He knew they couldn't stay in one place for long, so that left the only choice he had for the time.
"We're goin' home."
====================================================================
Oddly enough, Reno managed to keep the promise he'd made, before they ran into Yuffie weeks before, that night. . .
====================================================================
Three days.
That was nearly all Reno thought about as he laid in bed early the next morning, Tifa asleep in his arms. He did have to smile to himself, though, at how everything had turned out between them. He absently rubbed the dip in his shoulder with his chin, where Tifa had bit him a bit too hard.
He thought back on the past twenty-some years of his life and had to decrease the smile.
He'd always been keeping everyone at arm's length, never wanting to deal with 'commitment,' if you could call it that, of having to devote himself to something.
The Turks didn't count, he added to himself with a grin.
He'd been the one in the bars, leaving with a different woman every night, never having seen them again past nine the next morning. Reno Drannor had a kind of personal wall around himself; one that let no one in; one built after his parents and sister were killed; one that got stronger with each succession of missing out on commitment.
Tifa, though, had found the loose brick in the wall, and was able to pass it, along with the Turks and maybe a few others. If he were able to have another chance, Reno decided he would have probably stopped himself from letting people through the loose brick so easily. Pulling back and looking at what he had to brag about in his life, Reno found that any success at all was slim to impossible to find.
Feeling the raven-brown hair pressed lightly to his face, though, Reno found that this was about his biggest accomplishment since joining SOLDIER, being pulled from the program, and being tossed into the Turks.
As if on command, Tifa shifted against him, pressing herself slightly closer, though the bed was large enough for her to spread out if needed.
Reno knew she was asleep, but kept absoutely still just for a bit of safety. The large cut across his cheek from the sharp knuckles of Marcus still throbbed lightly with each thump of his head, but he knew he'd tough it out.
It was then that Vincent came to mind.
He knew he was dangerous, but he also knew the man was intellegent from Turk rumors. What this meant was that whatever Vincent wanted to do with the information he'd been given was most likely possible for him.
Reno sighed and closed his eyes, though in the pitch black of the apartment, it made it no darker than it already was.
A single phrase went almost silently through his lips before he drifted off.
"You're a moron and you never truly saw what you ignored and passed up, Cloud."
====================================================================
"Reno."
The ex-Turk was no longer surprised when Tseng visited him via Lifestream, but he still jumped slightly at his name and opened his eyes quickly, to see a heavenly-like Tseng, a kind of glow coming off of him.
"You're back," he stated a bit coldly, sitting up and feeling a slight chill as he passed through Tifa. It had been explained that this was simply his soul leaving his body to communicate with someone from the Lifestream for awhile.
Creepy is how he explained it.
"Bad timing?" Tseng questioned with the hint of a smirk, taking a spot at the foot of the bed.
Reno rubbed his head. "I'm guessing you watched?"
Tseng shrugged, but shook his head. "That's one thing the Lifestream prohibits, but I got the point of how it was going to turn out. You know why I'm here, I assume."
Not a question.
"You've got three days to establish how much you love her, Reno. Hate to sound like a lecture from beyond the grave, but I think this is going to be as close to one as you're ever going to get," Tseng said without waiting for an answer to his 'question.'
Reno gave him a glare that could knock a WEAPON over. "You don't think I've established that," he accused.
Tseng gave him a stare, not flinching under his hard gaze. "Have you?"
This brought silence down on the younger ex-Turk. He wondered just how much of a point Tseng had, or if he really had established that already. Casting a glance over his shoulder to, well, himself and Tifa, he stared for a moment and then looked back to Tseng. His voice was softer as well as his eyes. "Three words and I could make her understand just how much --"
"Say those three words and you'll be kicking yourself in four days, Reno. I don't want to see words. I want to see action," Tseng snapped, his voice raising a bit.
This time, Tseng had a point.
Tseng continued, "When the time comes, what are you going to do? Gung-ho with the plan? Stop it? I'd really like to know, because right now, as far as I know, you're stuck on going for it."
Reno was about to reply, but Tseng went on in a kind of rant.
"You know what Sephiroth and Cloud plan on doing as well as you knew what Cero was going to do yesterday. But you ran away like a coward; you didn't step up and say how much you care for Tifa; you didn't voice your opinion and tell them to halt the mission. No, you ran away and hid it all from Tifa. I know you were trained to lie, and I know you're afraid of being committed as well as I know I trained you as a Turk not to let emotions surface, but enough's enough, Reno!" Tseng exclaimed.
Reno exploded, swinging a fist to the face of Tseng.
Despite being out of the Lifestream, anything physical was still felt, and Tseng was sent sprawling onto the floor.
The red-haired young man was susprised to hear his uneven chuckle as he staggered back up. "Show action like that in three days. . .and you'll both be fine."
And then he was gone.
====================================================================
For the first time since Tseng's first visit, Reno woke with wide eyes to more of the blackness around him, his ears still ringing with one phrase in particular.
'When the time comes, what are you going to do?'
Reno Drannor now had an answer, he decided as he adjusted his arms around Tifa, glad to see she was still there.
Tifa wouldn't be lured into Cloud and Sephiroth's trap.
Tifa wouldn't be killed, and Reno would make sure of it.
Author's Note: Okay, as you may have picked up, there'll be one or two more chapters from here. Trust me, the ending is not decided in my mind yet. I have three or four possibilities, but when the time comes, I may have to post them all and only use one.
This one was a bit odd, eh?
-=Haze=-
.Exo. - 2003
Part Five: This Is Your Mission If You Choose To Accept It
Sephiroth was having daily meetings with Katedona, unknown to anyone in the Den except Reno. He would just declare he was leaving and do it, no questions asked.
Presently, he stood there speaking with her.
"I believe they've discovered it," Kate warned him.
Sephiroth replied with, "It will mess with the man's head. Maybe wake him up a bit. Back on the topic, if you don't mind, the time is drawing close."
Kate nodded. "Mere days. You're sure this is what you want to do?" she queried, twirling a bit of her red hair between her fingers.
"If we decide not to, it won't be by my word. Is that good enough for you?"
Kate was silent, seeing the rhetorical question posed.
"Others have seen me. Should I get rid of them, or just send them off with a 'warning?'" was his next question, a smirk planted on his lips.
Kate frowned. "Both are the same thing, correct?"
"Indeed."
"Whichever," came the end of the curt statements. "Why's he even cooperating with us?"
Sephiroth changed the subject. "Do you have my maps yet?"
For three weeks, Sephiroth had been waiting for a layout of the entire city, and so far, he'd gotten absolutely nothing. And now, they had four days to put his plan into action.
Kate nodded, but stayed silent. After a moment of that, she asked again, "Why's he cooperating, Sephiroth?"
"Blackmail. Do me a favor and send out our team."
====================================================================
"Ten."
"Fifteen."
"Nine."
"Thirteen's your final chance, Puppet," Sephiroth snapped, now standing with the leader of Claratish, Cloud Strife.
"Twelve and a half is as high as I go," Cloud replied coolly.
"Twelve and a half it is, but if we succeed, I may expect more."
Cloud nodded. "We close at twelve and a half for now, then." He took the pen from his desk and looked at the line where he was told to sign.
He didn't know if the threat would go through, even, but he wasn't one to take chances anymore. The ex-AVALANCHE member sighed heavily and signed in black.
Cloud Strife, however, was signing away a life.
====================================================================
Tifa looked oddly at Reno, who sat on the bench outside the cafe, staring into space. This had been happening a lot, along with some bad dreams, but now it was getting more frequent with each passing day.
The coffee in his hand was burning his skin, but Reno Drannor felt he deserved it for going along with Sephiroth's plan. He finally snapped from his daze and turned to meet Tifa's eyes, which had seemed somehow more beautiful than usual.
It was sure now, the two were in love with each other. Even a person who just saw them looking at each other could establish that fact.
Winter hadn't let up any, and breaths came in showers of ice crystals, but something eventually got to them and they just kind of faded from the face of the Planet.
Ah, how much Reno would've liked to be one of those right now.
Oddly enough, Reno reminded Tifa of Vincent Valentine at times; he would just stare at something unseen to others, but she had known what was going through Vincent's head. Memories of the ShinRa Mansion, Lucrecia, Hojo, and others.
Reno, however, was hard to read, and she had been constantly asking what was wrong to no avail.
A beeping interrupted their thoughts, and Reno fumbled with the phone in his pocket, standing up and walking casually into an alley. Once there, he pressed the device to his ear and sighed, letting Sephiroth know he was there. "What?"
{"I've the maps, a date, and I am cleared with Puppet."}
"You're telling me this, why?" Reno prodded, rubbing his temples with his free hand.
{"I'm giving you four days to do what you need to, Drannor. Don't waste them."}
The phone went off with a click.
Reno put his own back in his pocket, then walked back out onto the street to take his previous spot, glancing to the clock inside the cafe as he did. It was opening in a few minutes.
A few more minutes closer to four days later, was all Reno could think about. He looked over at Tifa, his stomach tight. He wanted to tell her; wanted to blurt out everything, but he knew he wouldn't live long enough to do anything about it if he did.
He looked down the street and silently cursed himself to see a man in his late teens strolling toward them. This wasn't what he needed, and, seeing the cold gaze of emerald green eyes locked upon him, he knew this wasn't going to turn out well.
Reno was about to stand up, but two men emerged from opposite sides of the street and strode to stand at his flanks, the three looking like the walked with a purpose.
Tifa must've noticed them, too, for she shifted and softly asked, "Friends?"
Reno didn't reply, only looked at the two new men.
One had red hair, much liked his, but it stood straight up, making him look like he'd gone through a vacuum cleaner. He wore a leather jacket, various piercings on his face.
The other was too far away to see, but he soon took up the lead, and Reno had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as they curved and started straight for him.
It was then he saw the leader's face.
"No," came out in a rasp, his throat tight.
Long, light brown hair tumbled down his back, hi eyes like staring into two frozen pools of water. The three arrived, and the two others were recognized as Marcus and Nang.
"Well, well, well," Cero muttered, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "Looks like the lone Drannor rides."
Reno, looking for something to fire back, said the first thing that came to mind. "You didn't die with all the other crap in Sector Seven?" He immediately regretted it, for he could almost feel Tifa tense on his other side.
"How 'bout we play a little game a' Dani with yer friend here?" Marcus suggested, sharing a laugh with Nang.
Tifa was clueless as to what this meant, but she could see the wave of fire sweeping over Reno's eyes.
"How'd you wind up in Junon, loner?" was Cero's next question.
Reno was silent as Cero snapped his fingers and Nang and Marcus pulled them off into an alley, not even trying to resist. Nang was larger than any of them, and even Tifa's blows didn't loosen his grip.
Once in the alley, Cero lit a cigarette and looked around. Seeing no one was there, he pulled out the switchblade, which Reno immediately recognized and growled lowly at, then turned to look at Tifa. "Well, Reno, you get to see two deaths -- by the same person and weapon -- and then I'll finally give you yours."
"Boss," Marcus hissed. He was gripping Reno in a full-nelson, and it was so dark that no one would've been able to see them if they'd stared in there from the street.
"What is it?!" came the reply, covered in vehemence.
Marcus chuckled lightly and nodded at Tifa. "You sure you wanna kill 'er?"
Cero looked offended. "Of course! What else would I -- . . .oooh. What fun," he muttered, smirking like a loon.
It took a minute for this to sink in, but when it did, Reno was sure he broke his arms and lost his voice, thrashing against Marcus and yelling.
"Silence him," Cero demanded.
Quick to oblige, his 'minion' gave Reno a punch in the face and a hard slug in the stomach, making him crumple and gasp. Reno gripped the very concrete, as if that would somehow hurt Cero, as he tried desperately to refill his lungs while coughing on his own blood.
Cero looked thoughtful, then shook his head. "It'd be too loud out here. . ." He looked at Tifa, his eyes swirling in madness.
". . .Which means we need to find someplace else."
Marcus grabbed the back of Reno's shirt and lifted him over a shoulder casually, looking to Cero. "Back to the place?"
Cero nodded and snapped his fingers a second time, nodding in approval when Nang had Tifa in a grip she couldn't escape with the hardest effort.
They were about to leave when. . .
"Psst!"
Marcus was the closest to the call, and, when he looked over, was the first to be hit with three bullets to the neck. He gagged and dropped Reno from the full height of his shoulder, his eyes bulging as he gripped for his throat and crumpled to his knees, writhing in pain.
Nang was the second. It took over five shots to send him down, but none even came close to Tifa.
Cero, looking around like a trapped heron, made a hasty retreat from the alley, disappearing around the corner.
Tifa was so preoccupied with the safety of Reno that she didn't even notice their 'savior' until Reno looked at him, then he had both of their attention.
The sight was shocking.
Vincent Valentine stood there, shrouded within the shadows, but even his presence gave his identity away. He looked at them both with cold eyes, keeping his impassive facade of a face. He still wore his red cape; still held the Death Penalty; still looked just like he had years ago.
"Vince?!!" Tifa shrieked, half-scared, half-elated.
Vincent didn't flinch, nor did he blink an eye. He stood there a moment longer before slowly striding to them with a curt nod. He bent down and whispered a few things to Reno, unheard by Tifa, before standing back up. He then proceeded to walk calmly after Cero, or at least in that direction.
Tifa was now frozen in confusion, but then she was even more in the dark when she looked down and, from a bit of light in the alley, saw how pale Reno'd gone.
"Reno?"
The ex-Turk stared after Vincent. He'd heard it. Vincent knew the whole plan, from the date to how it was to be executed. What this meant for now, Reno could only guess, but he doubted it would be anything good. He knew they couldn't stay in one place for long, so that left the only choice he had for the time.
"We're goin' home."
====================================================================
Oddly enough, Reno managed to keep the promise he'd made, before they ran into Yuffie weeks before, that night. . .
====================================================================
Three days.
That was nearly all Reno thought about as he laid in bed early the next morning, Tifa asleep in his arms. He did have to smile to himself, though, at how everything had turned out between them. He absently rubbed the dip in his shoulder with his chin, where Tifa had bit him a bit too hard.
He thought back on the past twenty-some years of his life and had to decrease the smile.
He'd always been keeping everyone at arm's length, never wanting to deal with 'commitment,' if you could call it that, of having to devote himself to something.
The Turks didn't count, he added to himself with a grin.
He'd been the one in the bars, leaving with a different woman every night, never having seen them again past nine the next morning. Reno Drannor had a kind of personal wall around himself; one that let no one in; one built after his parents and sister were killed; one that got stronger with each succession of missing out on commitment.
Tifa, though, had found the loose brick in the wall, and was able to pass it, along with the Turks and maybe a few others. If he were able to have another chance, Reno decided he would have probably stopped himself from letting people through the loose brick so easily. Pulling back and looking at what he had to brag about in his life, Reno found that any success at all was slim to impossible to find.
Feeling the raven-brown hair pressed lightly to his face, though, Reno found that this was about his biggest accomplishment since joining SOLDIER, being pulled from the program, and being tossed into the Turks.
As if on command, Tifa shifted against him, pressing herself slightly closer, though the bed was large enough for her to spread out if needed.
Reno knew she was asleep, but kept absoutely still just for a bit of safety. The large cut across his cheek from the sharp knuckles of Marcus still throbbed lightly with each thump of his head, but he knew he'd tough it out.
It was then that Vincent came to mind.
He knew he was dangerous, but he also knew the man was intellegent from Turk rumors. What this meant was that whatever Vincent wanted to do with the information he'd been given was most likely possible for him.
Reno sighed and closed his eyes, though in the pitch black of the apartment, it made it no darker than it already was.
A single phrase went almost silently through his lips before he drifted off.
"You're a moron and you never truly saw what you ignored and passed up, Cloud."
====================================================================
"Reno."
The ex-Turk was no longer surprised when Tseng visited him via Lifestream, but he still jumped slightly at his name and opened his eyes quickly, to see a heavenly-like Tseng, a kind of glow coming off of him.
"You're back," he stated a bit coldly, sitting up and feeling a slight chill as he passed through Tifa. It had been explained that this was simply his soul leaving his body to communicate with someone from the Lifestream for awhile.
Creepy is how he explained it.
"Bad timing?" Tseng questioned with the hint of a smirk, taking a spot at the foot of the bed.
Reno rubbed his head. "I'm guessing you watched?"
Tseng shrugged, but shook his head. "That's one thing the Lifestream prohibits, but I got the point of how it was going to turn out. You know why I'm here, I assume."
Not a question.
"You've got three days to establish how much you love her, Reno. Hate to sound like a lecture from beyond the grave, but I think this is going to be as close to one as you're ever going to get," Tseng said without waiting for an answer to his 'question.'
Reno gave him a glare that could knock a WEAPON over. "You don't think I've established that," he accused.
Tseng gave him a stare, not flinching under his hard gaze. "Have you?"
This brought silence down on the younger ex-Turk. He wondered just how much of a point Tseng had, or if he really had established that already. Casting a glance over his shoulder to, well, himself and Tifa, he stared for a moment and then looked back to Tseng. His voice was softer as well as his eyes. "Three words and I could make her understand just how much --"
"Say those three words and you'll be kicking yourself in four days, Reno. I don't want to see words. I want to see action," Tseng snapped, his voice raising a bit.
This time, Tseng had a point.
Tseng continued, "When the time comes, what are you going to do? Gung-ho with the plan? Stop it? I'd really like to know, because right now, as far as I know, you're stuck on going for it."
Reno was about to reply, but Tseng went on in a kind of rant.
"You know what Sephiroth and Cloud plan on doing as well as you knew what Cero was going to do yesterday. But you ran away like a coward; you didn't step up and say how much you care for Tifa; you didn't voice your opinion and tell them to halt the mission. No, you ran away and hid it all from Tifa. I know you were trained to lie, and I know you're afraid of being committed as well as I know I trained you as a Turk not to let emotions surface, but enough's enough, Reno!" Tseng exclaimed.
Reno exploded, swinging a fist to the face of Tseng.
Despite being out of the Lifestream, anything physical was still felt, and Tseng was sent sprawling onto the floor.
The red-haired young man was susprised to hear his uneven chuckle as he staggered back up. "Show action like that in three days. . .and you'll both be fine."
And then he was gone.
====================================================================
For the first time since Tseng's first visit, Reno woke with wide eyes to more of the blackness around him, his ears still ringing with one phrase in particular.
'When the time comes, what are you going to do?'
Reno Drannor now had an answer, he decided as he adjusted his arms around Tifa, glad to see she was still there.
Tifa wouldn't be lured into Cloud and Sephiroth's trap.
Tifa wouldn't be killed, and Reno would make sure of it.
Author's Note: Okay, as you may have picked up, there'll be one or two more chapters from here. Trust me, the ending is not decided in my mind yet. I have three or four possibilities, but when the time comes, I may have to post them all and only use one.
This one was a bit odd, eh?
-=Haze=-
.Exo. - 2003