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CHAPTER TWO - DEMONS

'Hello, I know there's someone out there who can understand ... And who's feeling the same way as me ... I'm twenty-four and I've got everything to live for ... But I know now that it wasn't meant to be ... 'Cause all has been lost and all has been won ... And there's nothing left for us to save ... But now I know that I don't want to be alone today ... So if you find that you've been feeling just the same ... Call me now it's alright ... It's just the end of the world ... You need a friend in the world ... 'Cause you can't hide ... So call and I'll get right back ... If your intentions are pure ... I'm seeking a friend for the end of the world ... I've got a photograph I'll send it off today ... And you will see that I am perfectly sane ... Not for a lifetime or forever and a day ... 'Cause we know now that just won't be the case ... There will be no commitment and no confessions ... And no little secrets to keep ... No little children or houses with roses just the ... end of the world and me ... 'Cause all has been gone and all has been done ... And there's nothing left for us to say ... But we could be together as they blow it all away ... And we can share in every moment as it breaks ... Call me now it's alright ... It's just the end of the world ... You need a friend in the world ... 'Cause you can't hide ... So call and I'll get right back ... If your intentions are pure ... I'm seeking a friend for the end of the world ... (Chris Cornell: 'Preaching the End of the World')'

Grassy Plain. Morning.

Reno lounged against a rock, one leg sprawled out in front of him, the other loosely bent and pulled towards his chest. His appearance was unkempt as usual, sunglasses covering his eyes for once, actually doing their created task of shielding his eyes from the rays of sunlight rising over the horizon. An unlit cigarette dangled from one corner of his mouth as he fumbled in his coat pocket for his lighter.

Elena wrinkled her nose in disgust as he found his lighter and managed to light the cigarette, despite his massive hangover from the 'The Planet is Saved' celebration party the night before. Shinra and it's symbol city Midgar were both destroyed; Rufus, Hojo, and Sephiroth were all dead, but where there was booze, there was Reno.

"That's a filthy habit, Reno. Why don't you quit in honor of the new Midgar?"

Reno tilted his head to look at her. At least that's what she thought he was doing. It was hard to tell with his eyes hidden behind the sunglasses.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of sick joke, 'Lena? Look at this place. I need this now more than ever."

The only semblance of a home he had ever had was now just a twisted pile of rubble. Reeve had already been over to speak with them about working with him to rebuild the city. As Turks, or former Turks, none of the three- Reno, Elena, or Rude- had yet voiced a decision regarding Reeve's request.

The man had vision. Reno wouldn't fault him that. As the head city planner under Shinra's regime, Reeve had built the city into what it had been before. Reno had no doubts that Reeve would build Midgar up again, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be a part of that, or rather if he, Reno, former gun of Shinra, could fit into Reeve's new plan of Midgar. The slums and then Shinra... that was the only life he knew. He was a Turk, not a city planner. He had no vision beyond where the next payment of gil was going to come from. He took a long drag from his cigarette and glanced towards his long-time partner and the third member of what remained of the Turks.

Rude currently stood a short distance away from his comrades, intently watching the exchange going on between the members of the now-former rebel group Avalanche. He watched as each of the members bid their good byes to one another before each turned and boarded the Highwind, leaving Cloud and Tifa standing on the field together, the wind created by the Highwind's massive engines blowing their hair around.

His hands unconsciously balled into fists as he watched Cloud turn and walk away, fading further into the distance with each passing step. He continued to watch silently, only partially aware of the conversation going on behind him as Reeve walked up to the lovely Tifa Lockheart. As he watched her face light up and saw Reeve's answering smile, he didn't need to hear what they had said. He already knew what he needed to do. He turned towards his fellow Turks and stated simply, "I'm staying."

"So am I." Elena spoke with conviction. From the minute Reeve had told them of his plans, she had decided that she would stay and help in whatever capacity she could. Midgar was her home and she hated to see it in shambles. She knew that her opinion didn't carry much weight with her two fellow Turks. Neither believed she could understand anything of their lives since she grew up on the upper plate of the old Midgar and not down in the slums as they had. But neither knew how she had finally managed to "convince" Tseng to allow her to become a Turk. She hadn't originally set out to blackmail anyone, but when good information came her way, she couldn't ignore it. Not when it would get her exactly what she had dreamed of. Besides, it wasn't her doing that one of his dalliances turned out to be the president's daughter. It also wasn't her doing that the President didn't approve of "bedroom relations" between his daughter and members of the Turks.

Reno snuffed out the cigarette against a rock and groaned inwardly. They were a team, the three of them. Despite Elena's tendency to be a complete ditz, they were the only friends, the only family that he had. All thoughts of striking out alone were forgotten as Rude and Elena made their announcements. He had followed Rude's gaze during the time just before he had announced that he was staying and suspected that Tifa Lockhart had been a major factor in that decision. He didn't want to speculate on what Rude was thinking.

He allowed his gaze to wander over the field to where Tifa and Reeve were standing, and for a brief moment, their eyes locked across that expanse. He felt the old anger well up deep inside of him and knew it was emanating from his very pores. It shot across the field and their eyes remained locked for what seemed an eternity as the pain came shooting back.

She'd considered herself too good for him then. She was able to overlook that he worked for Shinra. But when she found out he was a Turk, that's when she had walked out. Right after... right after he had become certain that she had stolen his heart and entwined herself permanently into his soul. He closed his eyes in an attempt to block out the memories, but found that that action only let them come flooding back. Despite all that he had survived and all that he had seen and done as a Turk, it was still the most painful day of his life.

'One last try.' That's what he'd told himself as he walked into the store where she worked. He'd sat at home the last several evenings staring at a blank wall trying to will himself to forget her. It didn't work, and he knew he had to give it one last chance. Maybe she could look beyond what he was.

Maybe she could look beyond the destruction she had seen at that old mining town on their trip back from the Gold Saucer; that while he was officially "on vacation", Shinra guards had still deferred to him when he was spotted and that the other Turks knew him by name.

Maybe something in her would let her forget and just let her care for him for the man he had shown her over the last few weeks, and not to let the Turk in him bother her. It was a false hope, and while he knew that deep inside, it was still the only thing he could cling to.

He stood in line, waiting as she finished with the customer in front of him. Her smile instantly evaporated when she saw him. Anger flashed in her chocolate-cherry eyes as she looked at him. "I told you I didn't want to see you ever again, Reno." Her tone was cold, and the use of "Reno" instead of the usual "Nathan" cut him to the bone.

'One last try.' He repeated to himself again, right before speaking the words he had never spoken to any woman before.

"I... I love you." His eyes were filled with a pain that went straight through to his soul. He didn't care that there was a store full of customers listening to the greatest declaration he had ever made. He meant them with all his heart, but somehow he also knew that he would be rejected. The anger in her eyes told him that. It would take more than those words to put out that flame of anger.

"You're a Turk... one of Shinra's killers..." She'd turned and run into the backroom then, tears welling in her eyes, whispering something he could just barely hear, and still wasn't sure where it had come from. "Sephiroth... Soldier... Mako Reactors... Shinra... I hate them all."

"Administrative Research!" He shouted lamely after her. "That's what we are... officially." He finished softy.

As he watched her run from him, he couldn't believe he'd said those three words. He never had before. As he watched her disappear, he vowed he'd never use them again. It hurt too fucking much. But instead of running after her, instead of telling her that he'd give it all up for her, he let her go. And he let himself fall into the abyss.

His eyes snapped open and the vision disappeared, but she was still there now, standing across the field from him. He could sense her defiance as he let his eyes bore into her, in hopes of filling her with the pain and hatred that he felt for her. For causing him so much pain. No one had before and no one ever would again. Even the hard life in the slums before he had joined Shinra's Soldier program, and ultimately the Turks, was no match for the pain he felt whenever he thought about her. And over the last four years he'd let the wound fester inside.

He knew that he could have left the Turks and given it all up for her. He still wondered to this day if it would've made a difference. But in the end, he took the coward's road and stayed with Shinra; with the ones that had saved him from the slums and destroyed her life. But now all of that was gone. All that remained was a smoldering city, three Turks, and a lone Shinra executive with dreams of a new Midgar who had asked them to help.

Sanity screamed at him to get away from there, away from Midgar, away from her, but it was not Sanity's day to decide. Loyalty dictated that he stay and contribute something to the new city that Reeve was determined to create.

He stood and joined his fellow Turks, smirking to cover his reluctance at staying to rebuild Midgar. The only silver lining that he could see was that the majority of Avalanche apparently wouldn't be there. Just Tifa. He wasn't sure what she passionately despised him for more- the dropping of the Sector Seven plate on her home and friends or for not telling her he was a Turk before he had taken the last remnant of her innocence. He smirked even broader remembering that unforgettable week in Costa del Sol with her. However, he also knew that one person would be easier to avoid than the whole rebel bunch of them. And honestly, how hard could it be to avoid her? Midgar was a big place and it all had to be cleaned up. Right?

"Can't very well split up the mighty Turks, can we?" Reno casually draped an arm around the shoulders of each of his two friends. "Count me in too."

Rude glanced across the field at Tifa once more before giving Reno a look that said that announcing his intention to stay was the strangest thing he had ever done.