By Word of Mouth,

By Ealinesse

_____________________________________________

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of the Final Fantasy series - characters, items, ideas, nothing. I do not claim to. The only characters I do own, are not even in the story yet, though I do claim right to them when they pop up.

_____________________________________________

Chapter Six: Beating the Clock

_____________________________________________

"I think, Yuffie-kins, that you're going to have to let me lean on you a little longer after all," Reno sighed as he shifted uncomfortably against the girl.

Yuffie winced at the pet name Reno had begun to use to annoy her. Hoisting him up higher as he began to slip a little, she prodded him in the side to keep him awake. "Like bloody hell I am. You get your bloody feet moving, or I'll dump you right here. I told you up in the cab that I wasn't going to do this for you, and here I am. Get you lazy ass up."

"You willing to bet on that?"

Reno almost smiled as he caught the sour look on the ninja's elfin face.

"Oh, shut up, Turk. You owe me big for this one."

Damn it, he was thinking too much.

Reno withheld a gasp as the gaping wound on his shoulder was jostled again, and the free-flowing blood once more broke free from its hold under the makeshift bandage Yuffie had applied earlier. The wound continued to refuse to clot, and even with the pressure it was currently under, the consistent movement created was counteracting any good. Yuffie seemed to know this, not just himself. And although this part of Wutai was not known for the presence of Red Dragons, it didn't mean other parts weren't. He was almost glad that she seemed to know her stuff. At least that way he wouldn't have to worry about him telling her what to do…

Wait. Scrap that. He told her what to do anyway.

Deep in thought, Reno winced as he stumbled on an unseen rock. He cursed, but realised with his eyes blurring and playing up the way they were, even had he been looking he probably wouldn't have seen his own hand in front of his face, never mind a rock. Feeling the weight of his boots drag him down, he couldn't stop his ankle rolling, and in utter dismay his body sagged against Yuffie's. This brought another bite from the ninja as, for the thousandth time, she grunted and pulled him up, dragging his slipping arm back over her shoulder.

"Turk, no one ever taught you to walk straight, huh? Look; one step, two step, three step. One foot right in front of the other. One, two, one, two. You know, I would really hate to see you dance."

Reno snorted. "You're the one leading the way, you walk straight."

At this Yuffie poked out her tongue, while Reno scowled, feigning an act of indifference. It was the end to an act which had been repeated quite frequently in the past hour.

Reno frowned despite himself. He hated this… this depending on somebody else, least of all a ninja brat from Avalanche with a smart mouth. If he had been able to walk by himself, then he would have. There was no way he was going to let on how stink he really felt. Better to come across lazy than really admit any weakness, no? And besides, it was one thing having his head pounding continuously, but completely another to have your gut writing in pain, your stomach twisting in agonising cramps… your sight blurring, your fever raging…

Reno bit back a cough, shaking his head. What the hell was it with him today? Talk about self pity central. He bit his lip, futily trying to ignore the white hot agony coursing through his shoulder. Pain was pain, and one way or another you either got over it or you didn't. So why couldn't he just knuckle down and focus on any one of those outcomes? Was it so hard to try?

There was still little doubt, though, that Reeve was going to get it when he got home.

Focussing on putting merely one foot in front of the other, it took Reno a while to notice the object sticking out of Yuffie's pocket. Perhaps it was because at first it was but a blur of colour – one of the many dotting his current line of vision – or perhaps it was his severe lack of inattention, but when he recognised it there was no way he could waylay his shock. Here he was, walking, on his fucking deathbed, and the brat had a readily accessible PHS in her pocket?

He hadn't realised he'd stopped walking when a sharp voice spoke in his ear. "Oi, Turk, pull your weight around!"

"What the hell is that?" Reno scowled, hating how painfully alien his voice sounded to his own ears. Raspy, dry and weak, he hardly recognised it as his own.

Yuffie stopped trying to drag Reno from his current state of stubborn immobility and looked in the general direction he'd been pointing. Even after Reno's arm dropped in weakened exhaustion she still hadn't seen what he was talking about. She narrowed her eyes, her expression dubious.

"What do you mean?"

"That. In your pocket."

Yuffie immediately paled and put her hand over the jacket opening. Had he seen the materia she'd still managed to keep? Surely…

"… Do not tell me that's a PHS in there?"

This admission gave her even more cause to let her jaw drop. Shera's earlier words came back to her, as well as the promise she'd made to the woman. She had pocketed the PHS before she'd left, but in amongst all of the materia, she must have forgotten about it. She almost cursed her stupidity, hoping it wouldn't look as bad to everyone else as it did to her. She pulled out the object in disbelief and flipped the front clip open, blaming her absence of logical thought on her distraction. Brought to life by the action, the phone beeped to life in a chorus of small chirps and cheap sound effects. This admission was only confirmation to her ears.

"I… "

"It is, isn't it?"

"Yeah." As if trying to make up with the lack of reasoning, Yuffie poised her hand above the buttons, numbers flying readily to her mind from memory. As she was about to press in a set of numbers, she stopped, a veritable thought jumping to her defense. Her fingers paused halfway from the keypad, and she turned to Reno even as she flipped the phone's shutter closed. Ringing Cloud and Tifa would only result in undue worry. Cid would just be damned angry, and Barret probably wouldn't stop swearing. Wutai, of course, had no such system to even bother thinking about.

"Well," the Turk drawled. "What are you waiting for?"

"There's no one to call. Where would that get us? There's no secondary form of transport available enough to get us out. We're close enough now as it is, we may as well walk. We're making good time."

Reno winced. "Speak for yourself. And what do you mean there's no one to call or no transport? Have you forgotten that Reeve's the President of Shinra?"

Yuffie's faced went void of all expression, and had she possessed Reno's foot she would have kicked herself with chagrin at her own stupidity. The Turk had a point. She bit back a groan, readied the keypad, and began dialing the number. She was even more embarrassed when somebody actually answered, though more than a little relieved.

"Hello?" a droll voice sounded over the line, and Yuffie lowered Reno gently to the ground and turned away, indicating quickly to Dania to halt the remaining passengers in their tracks. She ignored the 'I told you so' look written so plainly across Reno's drawn face.

"Hey, I need to speak to Reeve immediately."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the President is in a meeting at the moment. Perhaps if you leave a message, he or one of his representatives could call you back." It was not a question.

"Look, it's Yuffie Kisaragi here. Please put it through, it's an emergency. I-"

"Sorry, but I can't do that."

"Yes you can."

"No. I can't."

Yuffie could just imagine the woman in a micro-mini skirt with her heels up lazily on the desk, filing her nails for lack of anything better to do, the phone resting languidly on her shoulder. 'Nothing but a goddamn gum-checking... "Why not?"

"He's in a meeting here. He cannot be disturbed, it's of the utmost importance..." A sudden commotion cut the woman's voice off and there was a scuffling noise, then the slamming of a door. More scuffling, then a muffled curse. Yuffie listened hard, hearing nothing until another voice rang quite clearly over the line.

"... Hello?"

"Reeve?"

"Yuffie? We've been trying to get hold of you! Where are you?"

The ninja released the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "About two hours walking distance out of Wutai. About forty or so minutes before the final bridge. My phone was off. Sorry."

"Why are you - you were on the skyway, correct?"

"I was."

"Oh, thank god. We sent out a search party last night when the cab didn't arrive, but found nothing in Southern Wutai. A search party has just been deployed for the eastern segment, but you know what it's like at the moment. You're with the cab? Are you all alright? No one's hurt? What happened? You-"

"Everyone's fine, Reeve. Calm down. There was nothing wrong with your cab, per say, that would normally make it come off its cables." There was a sudden snort from her side of the line. Turning to face Reno, she noticed he'd been moved to sit on the ground. He was propped up on his elbow somewhat uncomfortably, though even from her view she could see the redhead's mirthful scowl.

"Don't give the poor guy a heart attack, Yuff. You're worse than I am. Tell him what happened."

She poked out her tongue and turned away from him again, breaking the eerie silence on the other end. "Reeve?"

"What happened."

"The cab fell when it was attacked by a Red Dragon."

"It fell. A Red Dragon." There was a sigh. "Oh, God. Please tell me you're joking."

"Oh, I wish it were all a joke, Reeve. Otherwise I wouldn't be stuck carrying a babyish Turk home." There was another laugh from behind her, which she ignored, then a sigh, which quite obviously came from Reeve. She could just imagine him running a weary hand over his eyes as he opened his mind to absorb whatever she was going to say next.

When he next spoke his voice sounded weary to her ears. "Care to elaborate, Yuffie?"

"Heh, well, we were roughly twenty minutes cabin-distance from Wutai when something started rocking the cabin and clawing at the frame. To cut a long story short, we fought it, it fell on us, then we all fell."

"But there's no dragons in that area! Specifically why we put the cab there and not somewhere else!"

"Well, apparently, there is now."

"Oh, God. And you said there was a Turk with you. Reno?"

"Yep. He was fighting the dragon on the roof of the cab, got his shoulder clawed pretty badly when he was doin' so. Exactly why I'm carrying the damned fool back here."

"He's all right? Alive? His status?" Reeve's voice sounded distinctly worried.

"Alive and kicking. Literally. The idiot can't walk straight, but we're making our way back. The poison's messing him up a little, and he's slowly weakening, but I think he'll make it. Actually, with that I'm pretty sure. He'll probably be awake enough the whole time to give me hell."

There was a short laugh, then a pause. "Poison? So he needs an Antidote?"

"Yep. And we need a ride out of here. I'm not only speaking for the Turk when I say that walking out of here is doing us all little good. The passengers are complaining, and the last thing I want to do is have to put them all under a Sleep spell to calm them down again."

"Have no doubt that I'll arrange that, Yuffie. I'm checking it out as we speak." There was a brief pause, and then the sound of someone typing on a keyboard. She distinctly heard Reeve curse. A minute or so later and Reeve again picked up the phone. "All right. There's a supply plane headed your way in about fifteen minutes. I'll send a message to the pilot to keep an eye out for you, but it's be best if you keep your eye out as well, just in case anything should happen. Stay where you are, and you'll be picked up and taken directly to the Wutaian airstrip from there."

"All right. We'll meet you then. And, Reeve? Thanks."

"It's the least I can do, Yuffie. Just make sure Reno rests and-"

Hanging up she turned and caught Reno's brief, but smug grin. After all that time help had only been the push of a button away. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier? Ignoring the comment Reno placed on her, she sat down, watching as the other ex-passengers eyed her with a wary look.

"Camp's up," she muttered. "We're being rescued in about," she looked at her watch and grinned with dramatic poise, "fifteen minutes."

And as the whoops of encouragement echoed around the fields, Yuffie thought she caught the ghost of a smile of relief on Reno's face. She smirked, about to comment on how she'd no longer have to carry him, but was cut off by a sudden wet, hacking cough. She was going to let it pass, not worry about the way he sounded, but when the Turk continued to gasp for breath even as his tortured lungs struggled to fill with air, she found herself darting forward to his side, steadying him as he swayed suddenly even as the others began to step away.

As she watched he seemed to recover slightly, but this cough that had developed in the past hour or so worried her. Unlike Reno she openly accepted the symptoms of the poison flowing through his body, and this cough, as harmless as it sometimes sounded, was getting steadily worse. It had begun as no more than a harmless clearing of the throat, but had grown into a wet-sounding fight for life, not so much a mere cough as a wheezing struggle for breath. She watched his face, pale and clammy, white beneath the glasses he had vehemently kept over his eyes to hide the sun contort into a mask of agony even as sweat began to bead on his forehead. She did not need to feel his forehead for the heat of the fever; she knew it raged his body, growing steadily higher as his body fought to combat the alien chemical inside it.

Yuffie frowned. If it had been anyone else she would have been worried to death. But why was she so concered about Reno…? Sure, he'd helped her in Wutai four years ago when Don Corneo had captured her and Elena, but that wasn't so much for her as it was the blonde Turk. And without him she wouldn't have been able to try her trick on the dragon at all, but…

There was a derisive snort and her attention was suddenly diverted. She eyed Reno skeptically, who struggled to shake off the bout of weakness that had overcome him. For his sake she tried not to noticedhow his arms shook.

"Do I look that bad? Not worried are you? I thought -" But that was as far as Reno go before he broke off into a another round of fitful coughing. She kept her hand on his back as one of his hands flew to his mouth, while the other one struggled to keep him balanced while he sat. Yuffie shook her thoughts off and blew out her breath out slowly, adjusting her expression to one of carelessness, wondering why he was having such an easy time reading her.

"Save your breath, Turkey," she said. "It looks like you're going to need it."

"I resent that comment," Reno gasped out. "If it weren't for you… I…"

But this time it wasn't coughing this time that caused Reno to halt his words. Frowning, Yuffie caught herself following the path of his hand as he brought it up to his face, and then to rest lightly against his lips. She peered closer, wondering what had made him stop his train of thought, when the sun suddenly caught on whatever it was on his fingers. As he moved his hand again in the air and licked his lips in disbelief, trying to clear the substance of them, she clearly saw him grimace in identification. She also recognised the substance for what it really was, but it didn't make it any easier to accept.

"Oh, shit," she whispered, shaking her head as her eyes refused to unglue from the blood covering Reno's fingertips. She watched again as he wiped disgustedly at his mouth, curses falling freely from his lips, at a loss for anything more to say. "How long have you been coughing up blood?"

"Since now."

She knew poison could cause internal bleeding among other nasty things, but as soon as this? Perhaps fifteen minutes was still too far away.

"All the fucking luck." When he spoke, his voice was almost painfully quiet, and she had to strain to hear the words as they flowed from his lips. She sat back again, confused, and could only watch as, as if a switch had been pulled, Reno's body sagged against the support of her arm. Because of his dark glasses she couldn't see his eyes, but she knew he'd finally passed out. His breathing, loud as though it was, was slow and even except for the occasional hitch.

Yuffie ran a shaky hand over her face, meeting the steady gaze of Dania as she looked up. The woman looked down to Reno, her worry more undisguised than her own. She sighed and turned away, her face blank.

If she hadn't been so worried, she would have accused him of fainting when he awoke. She didn't allow any room for an 'if'.

* * * * *

It was almost half an hour before the plane arrived, despite Reeve's probably painful attempts to get it to hurry up. She didn't blame him, though. She knew that managing people was often hard, and usually, unless a pay increase was involved, nothing like he had ordered worked that well, even for a president of a powerful company.

The initial joy that had been circulating from the news of their rescue had long since faded, and in the fifteen minutes between the estimated time of arrival and the time that the plane actually arrived, there had been a number of arguments and accusations spat out between the passengers. 'Why' seemed to pop up a little too much, and Yuffie had found herself more than a little tempted to cast another Sleep spell on them. They had become impossible to manage, and even though she fought to control her emotions, Reno, who had woken up for only a short while before, hadn't practiced so much restraint with the materia. The entire load of passengers, including the original crew, now lay in a slumped heap in the hold of the cargo plane.

Yuffie stared out the window, her lips pursed, eyebrows pinned downward in a squint as she watched the growing town of Wutai begin to appear from out of the hazy horizon. Her stomach knotted painfully and she winced. But the agony in her stomach had nothing to do with motion sickness - no, Shera's pills took good enough care of that. What was wrong was the anxiety that balled in the pit of her guts, a plague of worry that wouldn't melt away until everything had been righted again.

Unconsciously she willed the plane to move faster into the airport as a grunt of pain sounded next to her. She turned to the sound.

"Still alive," she ventured.

Reno scowled. "Well I'm… certainly not in… heaven, brat." His face suddenly turned serious and he bit his lip as the plane was jostled by an air pocket. "How long to go?"

"Not long."

"Good."

Yuffie grinned. "I think that's the first time we've agreed on something all day, Turkey."

There was a quiet cough and a short laugh. "Don't... get used to it, brat. I believe I'm delirious."

She snorted, but caught his grin, however brief. "Figures," she muttered before turning back to the window, relieved that she could spot the runway not far off. With any luck they'd be in Wutai within the next few minutes. And maybe then she'd be free of the bitching passengers...

... And Reno.

* * * * *

Author's notes: Yeah, okay, so I was a day or two late. I apologise, even though it was no biggy. Expect the next chapter to be uploaded in about the same time span. Make sure to tell me what you think, and review!