Hey!  Hishashiburi desu ne?!  I finally managed to boot my father and amoeba-like younger sibling off the Internet long enough to post!!!  Unfortunately, the Internet's still mostly down, so updates will be pretty sporadic.  *sobs and ducks in case any objects are thrown with intent to hurt or kill*
  Okay, here's the next part.  I know I labeled this yaoi/shonen-ai, but, for those who haven't been paying attention:  This fic contains yaoi and shonen-ai relationships!  Also, this section in particular begins to hint at a relationship between characters other than Seph, Zack, and Cloud.  It's right at the end, but you can't really skip it since the scene almost means something.  It is non-explicit (this time).  Also, there is a character death involved near the end.

*     *     *

Cloud sank gratefully onto his bedroll, already stripped down to a tank-top and his underwear. He didn't care who might be ogling him; even if Banford had walked in that very moment, Cloud would have just given him the finger, told him it wasn't an invitation, and gone to sleep. He wasn't about to get the only clean thing in his world dirty by wearing his uniform near it. Even without the mud and blood, he'd not changed his clothes in three days and they smelled…a little ripe.

With a contented sigh, Cloud pulled his covers over himself. He was a little ripe, too, but sleep was beckoning, and he hadn't the will to resist. He reached under his pillow and let his fingers lightly brush the Materia Zack had sent him. Reno had been right, surprisingly; it was not a summon Materia, but a green. Cloud wouldn't have expected Zack to send a Materia in the first place, and if he had, a summon definitely wouldn't be expected. But this Materia might as well be a summon.

It was a level two Comet Materia. Cloud knew Comet 2 to be one of the most powerful attack spells a Materia could hold, surpassed only by the legendary Ultima and perhaps by the ultra rare Contain spells. To be given a Comet Materia capable of casting Comet 2 was incomprehensible to Cloud's tired mind. He wanted so badly to equip it in one of the slots in his father's blade, but dared not. If someone noticed it, it would automatically be assumed that it was stolen; after all, regulars never carried such high-powered Materia. Most carried little to none, in fact.

Cloud wasn't even sure he had the MP to use it. Maybe a regular Comet….

He sighed wearily, and closed his eyes, ignoring his protesting body. He ached all over from over-exertion, but he was also used to that ache. The sheer relief of being in a horizontal position that didn't mean he was dead, or about to be, in the battlefield was almost too much to bear. He wanted to cry, but refused to let himself. Around him, he heard a few stifled sobs, and his chest ached in sympathy, and his eyes burned with the desire to join those who were finding release in their tears. There was no shame in tears of exhaustion, but Cloud still refused to weep.

He felt a bizarre pride in his fellow soldiers that so few did cry. Some were too tired, too broken to weep. Some were too proud, or too stoic now. Either way, Cloud judged that his friends, and he would admit them as such now, had come a long way from the painfully inexperienced unit they'd been only weeks ago.

Cloud drifted off, wondering if he had changed, and, if he had, whether or not Zack and Sephiroth would like the new Cloud Strife.

*     *     *

Sephiroth looked up as a breathless Zack slid into his office. "Seph! Reno's back in Midgar!"

Sephiroth sighed. "Turk procedure dictates that he'll not be allowed out of close observation for at least a day, Zack. We'll have no chance of seeing him until tomorrow."

Zack looked supremely irritated. "I know that, Seph! What I mean is that Reno's in Midgar, as in has been here nearly two days, and has been released. He just called me up to arrange a meeting."

Sephiroth just about leaped out of his desk. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?! When's the meeting?"

Zack grinned. "I thought that would be your reaction, so I set the meeting for this evening, 18:00 hours, at our place. I figured that, since he already knows where we live, we might as well treat him right, ne? I know you've seen the reports on what it's like in Wutai right now. Rainy is bad even here for a battle, but, as I recall, 'sopping wet' doesn't even begin to describe Wutai in the rainy season. He must be tired."

"He's been in town for two days, already, Zack."

"Yeah, in the Tower with people asking him all sorts of questions, weird doctors giving him full physical and psychological exams, and without even the freedom to go down the block for a donut."

Sephiroth sighed as his stomach loudly inquired how long it had been since he had his last donut, and when the next would be. Zack grinned. "I think we better get off work early today so we can get some food into you before Reno shows up. We do want you coherent, after all."

Sephiroth lightly punched Zack's shoulder. "Jerk."

*     *     *

Reno flopped gracelessly onto the chair offered him. He'd never been so happy to be in a normal, ordinary chair before in his life. Well, except when he'd first gotten one, but that was years in the past now. He smirked his usual smirk, knowing he looked little different from before, to those who didn't know him so well. Tseng had noticed, but had said nothing until they were well away from the prying eyes of the Shinra. They were partners now, as the two junior members of the Turks, and had spent hours and hours together. Tseng had even known that the look in Reno's eyes was weariness, not a loss of innocence because of his first loner mission. Reno had killed often enough before; this had been no different. He merely felt tired.

Reno grinned outright at the expectant faces of the two top SOLDIERs. If he hadn't met the kid before, he'd have been a little worried that one little boy could twist the leaders of the most elite force in the Shinra around his finger so completely; having met him, he knew that he should be worried, but really wasn't. Cloud wasn't even consciously doing anything to them, only being himself. And that seemed to be enough to bring Zack and Sephiroth totally under his control, even if not one of the three realized that it had happened.

That was why he'd really decided to stick to his original decision to just let the boy go. He doubted these SOLDIERs would let him off easily if he'd turned their friend over to Hojo. He'd not told anyone about Hojo's order, not even Lark, though he'd tell Tseng when they met that night. (Tseng had invited him over to his place, saying he had a nice hot tub he looked like he was in desperate need of.) His gamble seemed to have paid off, because no one had mentioned it. And no one, save maybe Tseng, would ever know how big a gamble that had been, how much he'd risked to do the right thing.

"Well?" Zack finally asked. Reno smiled, hoping it didn't look as tired as he felt.

"I saw him, alright, and delivered your little present."

"How was he?" Sephiroth asked, seemingly as disinterested as ever, but his Mako eyes betrayed him, for they were darkened, indicating that he was suppressing his feelings.

"Alright. Wet, muddy, hungry, run into the ground, and dead tired, but alright. And much bigger.  I swear, he must be at least five-four now.  And blessed Planet, he's buff now!  He must be working out."

"He's been fighting, after all. I imagine just about anyone would fill out if their life depended upon their strength and stamina," Sephiroth said with a nonchalant shrug, though his Mako eyes brightened. Reno shook his head with a smirk.

"Been there, done that, and I've still got my girly figure." He tossed his ponytail out of his way with one hand, and wished he had something alcoholic. Peering into all these glowing Mako eyes was starting to make him wish for just one stick of glow, and that was a bad thing. He would have given a lot to be getting plastered right now to fill up the aching void in himself. He almost didn't notice Sephiroth getting up, but instincts honed on the streets of Midgar would never allow something so potentially important to his next few minutes of life go unnoticed. Sephiroth disappeared through a door and returned a few minutes later with a beer in hand.  He handed it to Reno.

Reno accepted it gratefully, and downed half of it in one gulp.  Zack was protesting.  "Hey, c'mon now, Seph!  You wouldn't even let me drink until I was of age, and here you are handing a beer to some seventeen-year-old street punk!  Honestly!"

Sephiroth just smiled slightly.  "He seemed to need it more than you ever did, Zack.  Turks have it even rougher than SOLDIERs, you know."  Zack grumbled.

Reno sat forward, deciding that it was now time to get down to business.  "Okay, I guess you're gonna want to know what's up in Wutai, ne?  I can't tell you anything really juicy, since it's all classified, but I know you've not been getting reports from your men, because communications are so screwed up right now."  Sephiroth nodded, as did Zack. 

"Okay.  Shinra outnumbers the rebels approximately ten-to-one, but they know their land extremely well.  They took out most of the truly experienced troops with the barracks bombing the first night, but, SOLDIER seems to have suffered no losses so far; it's just the regulars that are getting it hard.  Wutai apparently has a black-market supply of Materia, which they're using all over the place.  The two-twenty-third got hammered a few days ago, and almost everyone else is down at least five percent.  The commanders have requested aerial assistance; I don't know if they'll get it.  They've also requested a reallocation of Materia, which they're getting.  Only level two or lower elemental Materia, and a few purple and yellow, though.  I do know that they're getting at least one slash all, a few E. Skills, and cover and preemptive."  Reno shook his head.  "They're screwed anyway.  Unless someone has a dozen or so Contains."

Sephiroth massaged his temples.  "Damn.  It's the Wutai War all over again."

Zack shook his head.  "I hope the brass figure that out before we find ourselves in the same situation again.  We almost lost Wutai the first time around, we don't need to go through that again."  Zack looked at Sephiroth.  "Hey, Seph, D'ya think we could—."  He cut himself off and looked at Reno.  The red-head got the hint.

"Well," he said, rising and finishing his beer in another gulp.  "I better be going.  I got a meeting in a few, and pissing off your partner and senior is not a good idea.  He insists on punctuality, you know?"  He grinned at Sephiroth and Zack.  "Thanks for the beer.  Be seein' ya!"

He sauntered out the door, leaving the two SOLDIERs to their planning.  He was technically cleared to hear anything they might say, save special mission orders, but the Turks and SOLDIER had long ago decided to butt out of each others' business.  Since most other Turks had been SOLDIERs, or would have been if not for Mako sensitivities, they pretty well respected SOLDIER jobs as such, and SOLDIER returned the favor.

Besides, he really did have to go meet Tseng.  And, even though Tseng was one of the most beautiful men Reno had ever seen, if he'd been joking about that hot tub, the Turks were going to be down another man.

*     *     *

(Two weeks later.)

Sephiroth groaned mentally.  He was so bored!  Even Zack seemed to be suffering, and Zack was usually a party animal.

Oh, yes.  Shinra had decided to hold its usual party in commemoration of the establishment of Shinra, Inc., despite the danger of terrorists, assassins, and the like.  The President had said that they needed to show the 'Wutaian traitors' that Shinra was not afraid of them.

Though, nearly triple security gave the lie to that.  Anyone who couldn't tell that Shinra was jumpy had to be blind, deaf, and witless.  Everyone in the room could feel the anxiety, so the party was sort of…subdued.  The troops slinking around even seemed jumpy; so jumpy that they'd not notice a real threat until someone got killed.

Sephiroth and Zack were watching instead, and hoping that nothing would escape their attention.

They had seen the Turks earlier, clustered around President Shinra as he made his rounds of the guests.  They gave him enough room to look fairly natural, but were all close enough that they could protect him.  Lark would not part from his side, though.  Her short, neat blonde hair was brilliant against her navy suit, and framed her watchful brown eyes.  She was as elusive as any Turk could be, but, from his few run-ins with her, Sephiroth thought she was fully capable of protecting Shinra.

That didn't stop him from worrying, though.  As much as he hated Shinra, to lose the cohesion of the company now would spell disaster in Wutai.  Rebellions would spring up world-wide pretty much overnight.  And, even, or perhaps especially, for a military commander of Sephiroth's caliber, that was one hell of a nightmare.

Sephiroth darted his eyes over at Zack, who met them momentarily, before resuming his silent vigil.  The party was just about ready to end, and nothing had happened so far, so Sephiroth was getting really nervous.  Some might think that the best time to attack would be when there were the most witnesses for a sheer terror effect.  However, Shinra was so famous that two witnesses would be more than sufficient.  Also, if working with a small party with limited resources, like, oh, say, Wutai, waiting until late so there were fewer obstacles and the Turks were a little more tired was actually advantageous.

Sephiroth just prayed that the enemy, whoever that was, hadn't thought their plans, if there were any, that far through.

Suddenly, there was a sharp ringing sound, and Sephiroth got his first real entertainment of the evening, as everyone in the room jumped, looking like startled deer.  Sephiroth simply turned to face President Shinra, who had merely tapped his fork on his glass to get everyone's attention.  The President, seemingly oblivious to the near panic he'd just caused, cleared his throat.

"Everyone, I'd like to thank you for coming to my little party."  Sephiroth snorted softly.  It wasn't like anyone had had a choice; attendance was mandatory.  "I hope," he continued. "that you all enjoyed it.  I will be retiring now, though you are all welcome to stay and socialize.  Goodnight."  Polite applause followed his announcement and lasted until he actually left the room, the Turks following obediently behind, or beside, in Lark's case.  As soon as they were gone, a silence fell over the room.  The night had been infinitely more tiring and on-edge than fun, and peoples' faces reflected it.

/Well, at least it's over,/ he thought.  "C'mon, Zack.  Let's go."

Just as they were headed for the door, the distinctive sound of gunfire rang out from the hall.  Everyone panicked, even as Sephiroth, Zack, a few scattered SOLDIERs, and some of the security force ran for the door.

*     *     *

"Get down!"  Lark shouted, tackling the President, and covering him with her own body.  Reno's own body was already moving, responding to reflexes created in the Midgar slums and in the hardest few months of training he'd ever had.  He went left as Tseng went right, already bringing up his gun.  He heard Tseng's first shots go off even as he was pulling the trigger on his own weapon.

/At least fifteen of them,/ his mind calmly informed him.  They obviously had bullet-proof vests on, because they didn't go down immediately.  It took a few shots to take each down.  He saw one raise his gun in the direction of Lark and Shinra, and decided that this whole thing was taking too long.

Calling up the strength and speed of his slightly Mako-enhanced muscles, Reno sprinted at the most direct threat to the President, letting his long legs take him into range with his nightstick.  He swung it viciously, turning the electricity on full, and smiled slightly as the body before him cooked instantly.  He spun and gracefully took out another.  He was trying to get all of them down as quickly as possible, but was well aware that his mind had retained more of the Mako in the glow than his body had; his body would never be able to keep up with his mind.

Of course, neither would anyone else's.

He got a glimpse of Tseng with his battle fans out and of Lark covering Shinra as he scrambled for the slight cover of a small alcove, planting herself in front of it, and him, before he was back in the fray.  He took out the last man in a long string of now dead or nearly dead targets with an ox-jaw to the side of the throat, just under the jaw, crushing his trachea, and looked further down the hall for more targets.  His eyes widened as he saw one man left standing at the end of the hall with a machine gun.  Reno ran at him desperately, knowing already he wouldn't make it in time.

He threw himself in front of the gun just as it began to fire, but the bullets somehow missed him almost entirely.  He only took two in the shoulder and one in the thigh.  Obviously, this guy wasn't very experienced with a gun of this size.  Still, it was enough to take him to his knees before the assassin.  The gun was still coughing, the only sound now in his pain-filled world.  Until he heard the soft grunt of pain and the sound of bullets striking flesh.

Struggling to a wobbly standing position, he resolved to make one final run on his target, but just as he did so, a black and navy blur shot past him, screaming a Wutaian battle cry.  Tseng dashed to the attacker and used him as a spring board into the air, his limit aura already blooming around him.  The Wutaian Turk threw his steel fans at his target, the extra 'folds' in them opening to turn each fan into a lethal buzz-saw.  The fans neatly decapitated the machine gun man, and whirled back to Tseng like boomerangs, not before also slicing the machine gun itself in half.

Reno smiled slightly; Tseng really was the best.  The dark-haired man helped Reno steady himself and they hobbled over to Lark and the President.  Shinra scampered away into a knot of SOLDIERs with a terrified cry.  Lark didn't move, just lifted her eyes to Tseng and Reno from her place on the floor, in a puddle of blood.  Reno collapsed beside her, the knees of his rumpled suit soaking through with blood.  Her warm brown eyes met his, and she smiled weakly.

"Reno…" she whispered, blood bubbling up in the corner of her mouth.  "It doesn't look like….you'll be the…rookie….for much longer….."  Reno shook his head in violent denial, trying to tell the only semi-good mother-figure he'd had with his eyes what his trembling lips couldn't speak.  She merely smiled up at him, and turned to Tseng.

Tseng stood rigidly, fans closed in his limp grasp, staring down at his boss, at the only woman whose opinion had ever mattered to him.  "Tseng…." the dying woman whispered.  "You're the leader now…..you know?  You…have to keep the President safe…and your other  Turks….."  She looked blankly out at the corpses in the hallway.  "I always…..wanted to go down…doing the job……"  A faint smile touched her lips, then faded and she looked up at Tseng again.  "Tseng….promise me you'll….take care of….my daughter…"  Her eyes were more dead now than alive, but they clung to Tseng's face until he answered.

"I-I swear.  On my honor.  And on the honor of the Turks."

Lark smiled again, and quietly let go of the world.

Tseng fell to his knees, now, and Reno could see the tears trying to escape his eyes.  But Reno felt better.  Lark had died as she'd wanted to die, doing what she was best at, and with dignity.  He rose to his feet, allowing his work face to slide into place, and heard Tseng clamor back up as well.

"Clean those up," Tseng commanded, indicating the bodies of their dead assailants.  Then, he looked at Lark's prone figure.  "Take her to be prepared for burial.  I shall inform her next of kin."  He turned to Reno.  "You are to protect the President until dawn, then I'll take over.  You know how to contact me if anything else happens."

Reno saluted, something he'd never done to any but Lark before and spoke the words hitherto reserved for her.  "Yes, Sir."  Tseng smiled with his usual quiet grace.  Reno went off to his job, work face never flagging.  He extracted the President from SOLDIER's care and lead Shinra to the most secure floors in the tower.  He felt Zack and Sephiroth fall in alongside, and, even as he took responsibility for the most powerful man in the world into his hands, he knew that nothing more would happen that night, not with these two on the case.

More than enough had happened already.

*     *     *

The already quiet room went dead silent as Tseng entered for his shift watching the President.  Zack and Sephiroth stood outside the door to Shinra's bedroom.  Their faces were stony, except for the compassionate eyes set in Zack's face.  The other troops in the room had obviously been chattering nervously, but were now as still and silent as their seniors.

Tseng passed the General of SOLDIER and his second with only a slight nod to tell them he appreciated their assistance.  They'd worked together often enough that that was all that was needed.  He entered the bedroom.

Shinra was asleep in the huge bed, unaware of the early morning light that should have been at the windows, because the heavy steel shutters in place over them blocked it out.  Reno was parked in a corner where he could watch the windows, the door and Shinra all at once.  His nightstick was in his hand in an open threat.

Tseng smiled at him slightly as the door slid shut behind him, and Reno actually smiled back, though his defensive stance never wavered.  Tseng took up a spot beside him without comment, studying his Turk out of the corner of his eye.  Reno looked good, considering all that had happened.  Someone had been in with a powerful Cure Materia, so his wounds had been healed, but Tseng wanted him to rest for a while to recover from the blood loss.  He was pale, and his slightly glowing eyes were a little too bright, but aside from that, he seemed perfectly fine.

"How is he?" Tseng asked of the President.  Reno shrugged, and how he made that movement look as dangerous as hefting his nightstick did was anybody's guess.

"He's tired and rattled by it all.  He's gonna need some assuring when he wakes up, ya know?  He'll probably want a full guard at all times for a while."

Tseng nodded.  "That's fine."  They stood in silence for a while before Tseng spoke again.  "We'll need a new Turk, now.  After I notified Lark's family of her death," he winced mentally as he remembered the stricken look on little Elena's face when she heard of her mother's death, but continued anyway.  "I looked through some files.  I sent some to your computer, and I want you to look through them.  After you get some food and sleep.  You need to be at your best, right now."

Reno nodded in understanding, and made as if to go, but Tseng stopped him for a moment.  "We don't have to break it off, you know.  Until we get another Turk we won't see much of each other, just trading off duties, but once we do get that extra man, we can go back to the usual routine."

Reno smiled slightly.  "You're my boss now, Tseng.  Isn't it generally frowned upon to be sleeping with your boss?"

Tseng shrugged, "Yeah.  Now ask me if I care."  Reno's lips twitched into a wry smile.

"Nah.  Since I already know the answer, it'd be stupid to ask."  He headed for the door.  "I'll go take that nap and a shower, too, I think.  Then I'll look at those files.  See ya in twelve."  The Turk sauntered out the door, maintaining the pretense of energy, despite the fact that he'd been run into the ground by this whole night/morning.  Tseng was proud of the teen and hoped this year wouldn't take another Turk from him.  He would really miss Reno, if he died.

*     *     *

  So, you all like?  I almost couldn't write Lark's death….I made her up and I almost couldn't part with her!  So, tell me, who expected Lark to be our tie in to Elena?  It must just be in the family.  And now we see that Reno and Tseng have been involved, for a little while, anyway.

  Okay, now for the shameless self-promotion: Please read my new fic, Scenic Route to the Promised Land.  The first story is about Reno and I should be posting it soon.  I'll probably split it into a few parts, since it's pretty long.  It's Reno's story from a ten-year-old orphan all the way through the timeline of Chi to Ase to Namida.  Scenic Route will also have Zack and Sephiroth stories, as well as several others.  Please look for it!
  --Akuma no Tsubasa