Elena stood at the foot of the bed, staring at the tangled mass of sheets and blankets that she could barely make out in the darkness. "Reno," she said to it. "Wake up." Her clear, loud voice shattered the silence, but it failed to wake, or disturb him. Elena leaned forward and repeated it, much louder this time, but it still couldn't rouse him awake. Reno made no motion other than the heaving movement caused by his deep breathing.
She stood back up straight, and sighed. Reno, who must not have had to wake up this early in a LONG time, would have to make some major changes to his sleeping schedule. And Rude, who had joined Elena on her mission to wake him up, picked up the nightstick that was propped up against the wall and pointed to it, suggesting that maybe they'd shock him awake. Elena shook her head no, that wasn't necessary. All out of ideas, Rude shrugged in agreement and put the nightstick back down.
Elena went up to the windows and drew the curtains back, letting the morning light break in and vivify the room. The transition from dark to light was so drastic and bright that Elena had to shield her eyes. And Reno, actually making a positive response, groaned and covered his face.
Coming around to the bed, Elena pulled the covers back and yelled in his face to get up, which only made Reno make an irritated expression, roll over and mumble unintelligibly, still pretty much asleep. The Turks did not have any more time to waste; they had to be getting somewhere soon, and they wouldn't be late if Reno would just get up now. In a fit of frustration, Rude grabbed him and shook him violently, and even though Reno was wide awake by now, Elena beat him over the head with a pillow, just for good measure.
The pillow really seemed to do it, though. "Okay, okay!" Reno yelled, a little more than flustered. "I'm up!" He tried to glare at Elena but she was in the direction of the window, and just as quickly as he glanced that way he turned his head back. The blinding light made his head hurt... or was it Rude's shaking him that did that? Either way... practically being bludgeoned awake isn't exactly a Minute Maid start to the day.
And for a second he'd forgotten where he was, and what we was doing there... then it all came back to him. They were still in Junon, only in a hotel... which was much better quality than his apartment was, he was sorry to admit. His old place was crummy and cheap, with multicolored carpeting that made him think of nothing other than two words: psychedelic puke. It looked okay on the outside, but when he went back in to retrieve his nightstick and a few other odds and ends, Reno was too ashamed to let Elena and Rude see the interior of it, so he made them wait outside. Well, considering that by the end of last night he had little more than a fragment of dignity remaining, he did not want to give them any more cause to shake their heads in pity. Reno was very glad to ditch that joint.
He might have even been glad to be around Elena and Rude again. At least his life had some direction in it, now. He'd been reluctant to rejoin them, but he wasn't so much that anymore... at least, he didn't think he was.
"Ugh," he mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "what time is it...?"
He looked up, and it was then that he realized that they were wearing their business suits. Reno didn't think he'd ever see Rude or Elena dressed like that again; on the other hand, he didn't think he would be dressed like that, either. They threw him the same clothes. "It's time for us to get going," Elena told him, and she and Rude left the room so he could get ready.
Reno didn't get up quite yet. He stared down at the clothes, exhaled deeply, and closed his eyes. His messy hair, which was normally a deep, rich scarlet color, was turned bright red by the sunlight that still poured in through the window. He sighed again, trying everything in his power not to question himself. He didn't want to think, which he'd had plenty of time for the past eight or so months, and convinced himself that he wasn't going to go back to being a Turk again...yet here he was, having convinced himself the complete opposite, that it belonged this way. And why exactly that was, Reno did not want to explore. He aimed to resolve it then and there.
No, this is it, he thought, rubbing his face again. I'm not turning back.
He came to that conclusion, and got up. Reno had managed to shove the thought from his conscience, but it did not completely bring him peace, because the doubt continued to gnaw at the very back of his mind.
*~*~*~*~*Even in midmorning, Junon was an incredibly busy city. Crowds of pedestrians rushed back and forth, too absorbed in their own affairs to pay any attention to the three people standing off to the side, who greatly stuck out from the rest of them. Blue suits, black ties and sunglasses, they were a visual anomaly in this picture; a stationary blue mass almost engulfed by the otherwise unremarkable groups of people passing by. The sun shone particularly bright(hence the sunglasses, although Reno wore them because he thought they made him look cooler and more mysterious), and turned the concrete of the streets white. Seagulls loitered overhead, then soared down to the crashing ocean waves that reflected the cloudless sky. Reno noticed that the water looked much more, uhh... blue, since the last time he cared to acknowledge it, which had been awhile. And he didn't remember the seagulls being there before. Oh well, it looked as if everything had been able to heal itself since Weapon and Meteor.
Most everything.
The Turks pushed their way past people, weaved in between some crowds, excused themselves curtly(like the civilized, dignified people they were) and then a certain huge building was in sight, one that Reno had never seen before. Rude pointed it out to him, as it was their destination. This was it; the new energy corporation they'd told him about: Zadoc Corp.
Reno felt the slightest chill just looking up at it, then reminded himself that this was no Shinra. Nothing like it.
They'd filled him in on the details last night, although he wasn't really listening. But he did take that the place was popular with everyone, because they didn't use mako but solar power, or some other 'earth-friendly' energy source, and because of this, those dangerous reactors weren't necessary. So nobody protested when the company came out.
The interior reminded him vaguely of Shinra, too; it had many floors. And he even recognized some people from before. One man he saw walk by...well, he couldn't get a very good look at him, but he could have sworn it was Reeve.
They went to the front desk(which was on the first floor, thankfully), and much to their dismay, they were told that the company wasn't convinced that they could still do the job, in spite of their resume. They would have to take a 'test' to confirm that. Reno didn't really think this was necessary -- of course they were still up for it -- but oh well, he was willing to do whatever was needed to get the job.
They were first tested on their abilities with weapons; for example, one of them was sharpshooting, in which they simply kicked butt. Although Reno's principle weapon was the nightstick, he had been trained to know how to operate a variety of other weapons. He hit every target in the bullseye(if not, at least very close) and the Zadoc executives were impressed. One of them, who was a little younger than Reno, was in awe. "You're awesome!" he exclaimed as Reno handed the gun to Rude, who was going next.
Reno looked at him, a cocky smirk on his face. "I know I am," he replied smugly.
The kid's face fell. He lowered his voice to a dry mumble and added, "Modest, too." Fortunately, Reno did not hear this.
The Turks had to go through a bunch of other stuff, and easily proved themselves worthy of the job. If anything, they were OVER-qualified for it. But whatever... if what the company wanted was proof, that was certainly what they got.
Rude, Elena and Reno weren't kept in the waiting room for long. An executive came out and told them that -- big surprise -- they were hired, and there were already some missions in line for them. Now that, Reno didn't expect. He exchanged glances with Elena and Rude, and they followed the executive into a room.
*~*~*~*~*Reno was abnormally quiet on their way out. He did not look up at Rude or Elena; he had a blank expression on his pale face, and looked as if he were suppressing something... of course he was. But he didn't say a word until they were out of the building.
"No way, no friggin' way!" it burst out of him as soon at they'd passed through the exit. "This sucks. I'm not doin' it."
Oh yes, they'd received their mission briefings, alright. Key word: BRIEFINGS. They weren't going to work together, at least not this time. Well, Elena and Rude were working on the same thing, but Reno was on his own. He had his own stupid mission of going around looking at old mako reactors to make sure there wasn't any "suspicious activity". What the heck kinda mission is that?! And Reno wasn't completely on his own, either. Oh, no. As if it wasn't bad enough, Reno would have to go around looking at old reactors with...
"AVALANCHE," he said it slowly, in disbelief. "AVALANCHE! Elena, you didn't tell me we're employed by the same company!"
"I didn't know!" she retorted. "I was just as surprised as you were--"
Reno interrupted, ignoring her reply. "How can they expect me to work with those people? If my memory serves me right, we've tried to kill them, what, five times? No, wait, maybe I had too many concussions and miscounted."
Why ME? He thought, Why did it have to be me? After Reno had been informed of his mission, he was too shocked to pay much attention to what Rude and Elena were being told to do. But he did get that they were going to do something equally lame, only they were going to Costa Del Sol for it.
"I'm no freakin' inspector!" he continued to complain, "I set bombs, exploded stuff, and did other cool things, but nooo..." it went on like this for a while, until Elena couldn't take it anymore. "Oh, please, Reno!" she yelled finally. "You can't do anything about it; you can't back down on this now. Just suck it up. Deal with it."
Reno shot a glare at her. "You're just saying that because you don't have my job. You get to go to paradise!"
Elena sighed. "No, I'm not. Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot with them--" (Reno rolled his eyes...THAT was an understatement) "--but we're not enemies. We never were. AVALANCHE was just a failed mission, nothing more. We had nothing personal against them, we just had to do our jobs as Turks. And you should know better than to let the past get in the way of what you have to do now." Her voice got a little more gentle. "Just do your job, Reno. It's not like they're not asking you to be friends with them."
They walked on in silence, in the now almost-empty streets. Reno stared at the ground, his hands stuffed into his pockets. He would have shot back a reply, but he remained taciturn, not only because he was still in an overall bad mood, but because Elena was right.
*~*~*~*~*It was the next day, and Reno was in his hotel room getting his stuff together so he could leave for his dreaded mission. He was too busy to notice that Elena and Rude had come in to bid him farewell. Elena didn't say anything yet, just observed him.
He was dressed in civilian clothes, a bit on the wrinkly side, but that had become his trademark. He looked like the same old Reno she'd always known, except for one thing...there was a cigarette dangling from his lip. Elena sadly shook her head. This was another pleasant addiction Reno had developed since the last time she saw him.
"You're not supposed to smoke in this hotel, you know." she informed him.
He looked over at Elena and Rude, not looking too surprised (or happy) to see either of them. He had a tired, annoyed expression on his face that told her he could care less.
She sighed. "Don't tell me you're not feeling any better about..."
"Of course I'm not," he said, cracking open a window to let the smoke out. His voice took on a mutinous tone. "I still think it sucks." He looked back at her for a second, then looked down. "...but I'm not gonna complain about it anymore."
Elena stared at the floor, too. "You'll live. Cloud can't be that bad. Unless you're intimidated by him..."
He raised his eyebrows. "Intimidated?"
"Well, you know, what with that big sword and all..."
Reno snorted. "Please, it's an oversized butcher knife. If it were any smaller he'd look more like he should be cutting some cilantro with it."
At that thought, Rude briefly wondered if Cloud had ever considered pursuing a career of the culinary arts.
Probably not.
Reno slung his duffel bag over his shoulder, and went up to the door. "I'm gonna get going," he told them, sounding a little more light-hearted. "If I don't come back, avenge my death."
Elena smiled to herself. That was what they used to tell each other back then, before leaving for a mission. And here they were, getting back into the old groove. They were the Turks, again. Not that they had ever stopped, but... it was just like old times, disregarding some of the blatant differences. She did not want to lose this again.
"Reno."
He turned around. "What?"
"You're gonna be gone for a while," she said, sounding a little tentative. "Don't make friends with them, or anything..."
He stared at her, blinking a few times, disbelieving that she'd even think he'd do that. The corner of his mouth curled up into a crooked, semi-cocky, confident grin. "Don't worry, I won't," he said, turned, and was out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Author's Note: That concludes chapter 2! (Hmm, did anyone sense some foreshadowing in there?) I appreciate the reviews, people. Oh yeah, and don't worry, they're not gonna be enemies...I hope I clarified that in this chapter...but with Reno's smart mouth, you can't NOT expect a conflict or two. I upped the rating, not so much for this chapter, but for later ones to come.....although that's as high as it'll go. And I know it didn't take long for me to get this chapter up, but I just want to say that no matter how long it will take, I do not intend on ditching this project. I want to stick with it. But only if you think it's good........so REVIEW!!!