Smoke and Shattered Mirrors,
By Ealinesse
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Final Fantasy, just the plot to this story, and a couple of painfully annoying original characters. And a rusty truck that, apparently, Reno and Yuffie don't want any more… Woohoo.
Summary: A stakeout doesn't go as planned, and the two people least happy about it are the same two who have to drop everything and work together to keep themselves alive… and sane.
Warnings: Language, (Kiwi Spelling), More Language, a little Violence.
Category: Action/Adventure, Bad Humour, Angst, Reno and Yuffie being prats… Reno and Yuffie being prats… Reno and Yuffie Arguing… Nothing too unusual, really.
Chapter Nine... Nearly.
…
"Looking for me?" Donovan asked, standing carefully and aiming his gun at him in the darkness, teeth glinting under an icy smirk.
Reno scowled, realizing that he should have trusted his instincts - they were usually right. He offered a brief, bitter smile. "Not particularly," he remarked, and took up a defensive stance. "You just don't ever seem to go away."
…
Yuffie watched as the black-cloaked man stood from his crouch, only just managing to spot the hazy expression on Reno's face before he was obscured by the flickering coat. Yuffie screwed up her face, took a moment to make sure the road was secure before her, then glanced back into the mirror just in time to see Donovan raise his arms, and keep them there. And to her that meant only one thing.
A gun.
And Reno was out of bullets!
She had to do something. And then with a flash of inspiration, it hit her. Yuffie eyed the steering wheel for a split second before jerking it slightly, hoping like hell that Reno would manage to stay on the back while she attempted to throw Donovan off guard. Her little trick worked, and she wiggled her shoulders just a little in delight as she watched the two of them go down in a tangle of limbs, still on the truck. She didn't fail to notice the gun that went off the side and scattered to the road.
Getting the truck back under control was a much easier ordeal this time – after all, she'd done it countless times in the past half hour. She grinned, feeling accomplished. Finally she'd done something of use.
Reno didn't have so much as a split second of warning before he and Donovan were thrown off their feet by a sudden wavering of the truck. Not having time to contemplate the reason, but realizing that Yuffie must have been watching, he sent a silent thanks out to the brat, who just kept doing better and better.
The two rolled to a stop at the end tray as the truck straightened out, both struggling for the upper hand. Winded from the impact, they threw blind punches, and it wasn't until two strong fists grabbed Reno by his shirt that he realized Yuffie's little trick had removed Donovan of his gun.
"Bad luck about the gun," Reno said with a smirk as he grabbed hold of Donovan's hands and shoved the man back toward the other end of the truck. Before the other man could put up a defensive stance, Reno lunged forward and began a barrage of punches and kicks to Donovan's abdomen and face, some of which were only just blocked in time due to the darkness. Halfway through a punch, however, Reno felt something knock at his ankles, and he stopped, stepping backward as he realized what Donovan was going to try and do. What he hadn't seen, however, was the fist flying toward his abdomen.
"Bad luck about Ashley and your key," Donovan said, fist flying.
Reno stumbled backward as the punch – not pulled, of course – struck hard and true to his tender side.
"Ah, so that is where the bullet hit you," Donovan said as he stepped forward, aiming a series of punches at the same spot.
Reno felt Donovan's hands grip his shoulders, and then something swipe his feet, and in a matter of seconds he was on his back with Donovan kneeling over him, his fist pressing painfully into his already aggravated injury. "Does that hurt, my friend?"
"Cheap… Donovan," Reno ground out, in turn gripping the other man unexpectedly by the chest with one hand, and punching him in the face with the other. Donovan fell back for a second, before returning, but that had been all the time Reno needed to get back up. Reno raised his fists and struck out again, throwing in a kick for good measure, but found that Donovan was throwing just as many back.
Reno scowled, hating the not-being-able-to-see issue as a knuckled fist cracked against his cheek. His head snapped back, and he ducked, only to catch a knee in his side. "Damn it!" Reno hissed breathily, and rolled out of the way of a vicious stomp, grabbing Donovan's foot and dragging him to the ground to level the playing field, so to speak.
He punched out again, grabbing Donovan's fist and forcing it backward, getting the upper hand for a moment as they rolled to a stop, slamming into the side once again. Reno took the opportunity to kneel over his ex-partner and smirk, punching him twice in the stomach, and then in the face. "You're an asshole."
"You are… what you are," Donovan retorted between punches, then somehow managed to free himself and roll sideways. Consequently, Reno's fist hit the hard metal of the truck's deck, and he instantly pulled his fist back, shaking it for a second before getting to his feet—
… Or at least, before he tried to.
Reno felt his breath forced painfully out of his chest as something solid with lots of momentum struck him in the chest. He fell back, gasping for air, and kicked out at Donovan's shin, but he hit only air as he watched Donovan sidestep and strike out again.
Again he was hit – though this time his wrist was snagged on the backlash, and Reno realized that Donovan had found a chain lying around on the truck's deck. "Oh great," he wheezed. "You've found a new toy." His only answer was a shrug before he was yanked painfully to his knees and kneed in the stomach again.
"Fuck. You," he grunted. "Can't you hit anything else?"
"I could. But I'm cheap, remember?"
Reno's reply was simple. He blew Donovan a quick, sarcastic kiss before yanking his arm free and throwing a punch.
Yuffie winced as Reno was yanked to his feet, then punched back down. That had to hurt. Not like she could do anything from up here, though. She sighed, and turned her eyes back to the road when something up ahead caught her eye.
Or, more accurately, the lack of something ahead.
"Oh… shit… Is that a… corner?"
Yuffie looked into the back mirror, watching as Reno aimed a punch at Donovan, then turned back to the road, heart beating wildly. What was she supposed to do? Brake and turn? Stop? She couldn't even see what it was, so how was she supposed to react? She twisted her legs to the side to get a better view of the two pedals. Reno had said the left one was the brake, right? She frowned, sure that was correct, and held her leg poised over the pedal, not sure of when to begin. Certainly it would be a simple matter to stop now, right? After all, they weren't being chased anymore, and that way she could pitch in at last.
Her mind made up, Yuffie looked up at the road and pressed her foot on the brake and –
Nothing.
Yuffie blinked, pressing her foot down harder, and when that didn't work, she jammed it repeatedly, pumping it in an effort to get it working. When that failed, Yuffie took her foot off it and forced herself to breathe. "Okay, calm down," she said slowly. "Just don't panic. There must be a logical explanation for this."
Like Donovan might have known you were going to steal a car and…
"Shut up," she told the voice inside her head. "You aren't helping."
Thinking hard, she eyed the other pedal, then looked back to the road as whatever it was grew closer still. With a shrug, knowing that the truck couldn't go any faster even if that was the accelerator, she jammed her foot on it. Hard. And…
Still nothing.
Yuffie rolled her eyes heavenward and began slamming both pedals repeatedly. Someone was sure having a good laugh up there.
Reno gasped for breath, one hand gripping the chain now trying to wrap its way around his neck, and the other gripping Donovan's own throat. The pressure suddenly increased, and Reno practically choked as his airway threatened to close.
The man leaning over him leered. "Don't tell me you're giving up already, buddy? I've only just warmed up."
"Bite… me," Reno muttered, trying to shove the man off, but unable to because of the pressure on his neck, and the knee digging into his side, pledging unfair advantage to his already battered senses.
"What about… choke you?" The chain tightened further.
"… pass…"
"Then you leave me just one more option, my friend. And I'm sure you're going to enjoy it just as much as you did last time…"
The knife that Donovan pulled out from a strap on his arm looked all too familiar, and Reno couldn't help but let his eyes widen as the keen blade glimmered menacingly in the moonlight. A cold feeling pooled in his gut, and he realized that perhaps he should have taken the first option after all.
Yuffie stared at the changing road ahead of them, unable to do anything but keep her foot on the brake and hope for the best – though it was quickly becoming apparent that the best, no matter the circumstances, turned out to be nothing but the worst-case scenario. Yuffie squinted as they drew closer still, and after a few seconds with aide of the lights, she began to finally see what was wrong with the road - and quickly wished she hadn't. The fact of the matter was, there wasn't any. Nothing.
Going to crash… Going to crash… Again…
Yuffie pushed away that helpful comment from that especially helpful part of her mind and focused on the truck. And the road. And what was going to happen when they reached the end of it, and went over the embankment that was creeping steadily closer. Briefly, she contemplated jumping out, but realized that with the speed they were currently traveling she would probably just kill herself anyway. It also wasn't going to help Reno.
"What the hell is going on!" she hissed, catching a glimpse of something moving in the distance. She paled as she realized what it was. Light on water... a river? She cursed. That didn't help their situation any. "Where is the road? Or the bridge! Aren't they supposed to have signs for these kind of things!"
In a last ditch effort to get them to stop, Yuffie looked around the truck frantically, before spotting the keys. With wide eyes she shook them until the ignition was turned off, and yanked the key out. She waited for a reaction, and was happy to find that they were slowing a little, but not nearly enough. The end of the road looked like it was just over a hundred metres away.
"Damn it!" she yelled, knowing that if she didn't do something soon they would be nothing but mush. "Come on, think. Think, brain!" Her hands roamed frantically over the dashboard, and after finding nothing she looked to her right, noticing a lit panel with a shift-stick-thing and a handle just behind it. She frowned, remembering that before they'd gotten this car started that Reno had clicked it downward, and that the car had rolled slightly. Was it another brake? Would it work?
She pursed her lips and felt a droplet of sweat roll down into her eye, obscuring her view of the scene before her a little – but not nearly enough. With a last deep breath, Yuffie decided that it was worth a try, and certainly better than nothing, and yanked the handle sharply up with a grunt of effort.
They slowed suddenly. So suddenly, in fact, that it hadn't occurred to her that it might be too much for the poor truck to handle. The truck fishtailed a little, then a lot, and even as she tried to adjust the steering wheel in order to get them to straighten out they began to do the complete opposite; spin out. Yuffie let go of the wheel as it yanked fiercely against her own grip, and even at their greatly reduced pace, the truck spun around wildly, the sound of screeching brakes and tyres desperately trying to grip the disappearing surface ripping loudly through the air.
And then suddenly they were there. Yuffie opened eyes she hadn't realized she had closed and could only watch in horror as they skidded up to the edge… and then right past it.
There was a moment of weightlessness where they seemed to float slightly in the air, after which gravity decided to kick in. With a solid thud and a loud crack, the truck began to roll. Yuffie had time enough to just see the briefest glimpse of a large, muddy bank, a scattering of trees, and a river stretching across it all before blinding pain and then…
Nothing.
There was the sound of skidding tyres and then loose gravel, and then… a distinct lack of gravity. Reno let out a yell startlement as the deck of the truck was suddenly yanked out from underneath them, and they were flying through the air. Hands that had only moments before been struggling to shove Donovan and his knife away were suddenly scrambling to hold onto anything of purchase that would anchor him to the truck. Mako eyes wide, Reno tried to see just what the hell was going on, though nothing but darkness permeated his vision. One thing he could tell, though, was that whatever was happening, it certainly wasn't any pothole.
One of his hands caught something as he felt himself flying backward, and he realized that it was the chain that had seconds ago been held tightly against his neck. He held onto it with a white-knuckled grip, his other hand coming up slowly and painfully to reinforce his hold. From beside him he heard a small yell, and he became aware that Donovan, like himself, had been equally thrown astray by whatever was happening to the vehicle, and was holding onto the side bar of the truck with all he could.
And then they were falling.
Reno felt himself lift higher, felt one of his shoulders pop painfully as the chain he was gripping was suddenly yanked taught by the straining gravity forces working against himself and the truck. For a second he was completely weightless, until there was a loud crash and the truck obviously hit something solid. Reno winced, closing his eyes and bracing himself for what was no doubt going to be a very hard impact.
Sure enough a moment later the chain he had been holding went slack again, and he felt himself spinning slightly before landing with an agonizing crack against the truck. The shoulder that had been yanked by the chain again took the majority of the strain, and Reno found himself letting go of it in order to put pressure on what was most probably the burning pain associated with a dislocated – or fractured – shoulder. However he had no time to deal with that, as the truck suddenly gave a loud, groaning lurch, and he was given something else to worry about…
Like the fact that the truck was beginning to roll.
With a curse that was more habit than anything, Reno raced to the end of the truck, not being able to see what was before him, but knowing that whatever fate lay out there, it was certainly better than being crushed under the weight of an already-mangled flat-deck ute. Without a moment to spare, Reno vaulted over the end of the tray and out onto a…
Bank?
Reno felt something wet and cold give under his skin, and he felt his feet slide out from under him as what he took to be mud found something else to toy with. He didn't have even a second to worry about where Donovan was, as he startled to skid rapidly downhill beside the truck, scraping against various twigs, stones and rocks in turn. Just when he was sure he was slowing, his booted feet, which were before him in order to try and stop him, hit something rather large, and his momentum threw him forward. Flipping awkwardly over what he deemed to be a particularly large rock, Reno again landed seconds later in a haze of mud and pain, before the gradient of the verge evened out, and he was finally allowed to stop.
He lay there for a moment, barely daring to breathe, his back, right shoulder and side burning from the ordeal. It was only a moment, however. Opening reluctant eyes, Reno realized there was one thing he had forgotten in all the action.
Yuffie.
"Oh, fuck," Reno whispered, sitting up with a stifled groan of pain. Pushing himself to his feet, he swayed a little, trying to rid himself of the tiny little stars dancing around in his vision. A second later they cleared, and he found himself able to see a lot better. The white truck, which had rolled back upright, lay crumpled and battered a small way off. Various items that had fallen out from the shattered windows lay strewn haphazardly across the ground in amongst glimmering shards of broken glass. The only sound in the area came from the truck's still-running engine. Reno's eyes narrowed and he began walking toward it, his eyes taking a second to examine the area he now found himself in before he reached the truck.
It was a lot lighter down here for some reason, he noticed, even where the beat-up headlights weren't pointing. Upon looking upward, though, he realized why. The trees that had been obscuring a great deal of light from the road were more scattered now, and thinner, growing only occasionally in small patches. The moonlight was glinting off what looked like quite a wide river a few metres to his right, and he finally realized that it must have been a washed out bridge or something equally disturbing that had caused their trouble.
Great. Construction problems.
Gritting his teeth against the pulsing in his shoulder, Reno kept a wary eye out for any signs of Donovan, but knew that his more pressing concern was the one who hadn't made it out of the truck. He stepped up to the closest side of the battered vehicle, his eyes scavenging for Yuffie even as his ears listened for anything out of the ordinary.
"Yuff?" he whispered, spotting her slim form slumped over the wheel on the driver's side in amongst all the scattered objects. "Damn it, brat, you better be all right." There was no answer, and without another word he yanked the closest door open – the passenger's. Or, at least, he tried to. Both hands clasped on the handle, Reno leaned backward as hard as he could, stopping only when his shoulder warned him that going any further was going to hurt him more than the door. He scowled. Whatever hammering the car had taken, it had been too much. Something had jammed the metal of the frame closed, and there was no getting in on this side. Reno walked around the back of the truck to the driver's side door, his senses buzzing with the strain of trying to find something off in the silence.
When he reached the other side of the still-running truck, Reno pulled the handle. It came free easily, but as soon as the door opened he found himself with an armful of Yuffie. "Shit," he muttered, stumbling backward slightly as he was forced to hold onto something that his injured arm had no desire to. Eventually he managed to swing Yuffie back into her seat, and lean her backward so her short hair fell back and he could see her face. The moonlight pooled over her skin in a sickly pale light, and Reno found himself holding his breath as he reached out to feel for a pulse.
For a moment there was nothing, and Reno squared his jaw, moving his hand instead to her limp wrist in order to try and find more positive results. "Come on…" he hissed, impatient. "Come on!"
Something pulsed against his fingers; once, twice, three times. Reno let out his breath and tipped his head forward in relief. Her pulse was slightly unsteady, a little weak, but it was there, and recovering even as he examined it. "Thank fucking god," Reno muttered, leaning over and undoing the seatbelt that had no doubt saved her life. Deciding it would probably be best that he get her out of the vehicle in case it decided to work even more against them, he grabbed Yuffie under the arms with a grunt of effort, and pulled her out of the car, lying her on the thin, muddy grass beyond.
Reno crouched beside her, tilting her head backward in order to get a better look at her face with the help of the dim headlights, and pale moon. There was a gash just above her eyebrow that was swelling rapidly, and that cut on her cheek, but he could see no limbs lying at unnatural angles, and no gaping wounds anywhere else. "Oi," he whispered, inspection finished, placing his good hand against her face. "Wake up." When he received no reply, Reno patted her cheek lightly, then a little harder as she began to respond. "Come on, brat, we don't have all day."
"…s' night."
Reno raised an eyebrow as confused, cloudy hazel eyes fluttered open. "Welcome back," he said.
"… the hell's there… to welcome me back… to?"
Reno snorted at the slurred comment, a lot more relieved than he was willing to admit. "The fact that you're still alive?"
An annoyed groan was his only reply. Reno shook his head. "What, you're not happy about that fact?"
"Depends. Would've been… happier… if that stupid…s'rry excuse f'ra truck had… working brakes…"
The other eyebrow shot up. "They didn't work?"
"What… do you… think?"
"I think perhaps you pushed the wrong pedal."
It was Yuffie's turn to snort in apparent amusement, and it occurred to Reno that she was likely to have a concussion as she began to giggle.
"Pushed… both. Then yanked that… other thing 'cos we're… going too fast."
"The handbrake?"
"'s the one… I think."
Reno snorted. "You pulled a hand-brakey at top speed, in a truck with two-wheel drive."
"You w're stupid… 'nuff to let me… drive."
Reno smirked and shook his head. She had a point. He was about to say something when Yuffie tried to sit up. "Don't, " he said, putting his hands on her shoulders in order to push her down. As he did so, a fiery pain shot through his own shoulder and down his arm, and he suppressed a choice phrase that popped into mind. "Just don't, " he repeated. "I'm not going to try and catch you again if you fall. You're heavy for someone your size."
Yuffie seemed to ignore the comment. "… You…are hurt," she said, and this time her voice was a little clearer.
Reno shook his head and laughed. "That's a case of the pot calling the kettle black." He leaned over her more, gently turning her head sideways so he could examine the gash above her eyebrow better, ignoring her weak protests at his prodding. After seeing what he'd been looking for, he looked in her eyes, but was unable to see her pupils in the darkness. He lifted a hand. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Dunno. 'S dark."
Reno rolled his eyes, knowing perfectly well that she was avoiding answering. The moonlight was ample enough to see the silhouette of the fingers he was holding up. "Yuffie," he growled.
"Fine," she replied after a second. "I… dunno. Maybe… if you keep your hand… still and don't … cheat?"
Reno ignored the comment, reminded only of Elena at a time when they'd been stupid enough to let her get concussed. "Vision blurry?"
"… what d'you think?"
Reno shrugged and sat back a little, his eyes now roaming over the scene around them. "I think by the way you're avoiding my questions that you've got the headache to end all headaches, and most likely a concussion. But I can't tell."
"'m a little sleepy… yeah… "
Reno glanced at Yuffie, seeing her half-lidded eyes. "Had a concussion before?"
"… too many… "
Reno slapped her cheek lightly, frowning. "When was the last time you had one?"
"When we fought… last time… "
Reno's eyes widened slightly, but the alarm bells going off inside his head quietened as he realized that the two concussions weren't close enough to cause any major trouble. This… well, acting like this with a concussion was normal. "What last time?" he asked at length. "I don't remember-"
"In that plane. Under… water."
Reno's mouth fell open slightly. Actually, now reminded, he did remember. Yuffie had said something smart and he'd gotten angry and whacked her upside the head with his nightstick. "Oh," he said.
"'Course that was just before… we kicked ya ass," Yuffie snickered.
"What did you say to me to make me do that?" he asked.
"Something 'long the lines of you bein'… a sorry excuse of a'soldier… even by Shinra standards…"
Oh yeah. That. He laughed bitterly. "Brat," he said, and got to his feet. "Wait there."
"Like y'need to tell me."
Reno rolled his eyes and dropped to his knees by her side again as he saw the eyelids struggle against the urge to close. "Idiot. Don't fall asleep, either. Donovan hasn't turned up yet, and I haven't seen or heard anything."
"He's… not dead?"
"Not likely. He's got something against dying."
"Oh. One of those."
Reno shook his head in bewilderment at her comment. Yuffie was lucid, but not enough so to be fully aware of what she was saying. Getting to his feet, he kept his sore arm at his side and used the other to push off the ground. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the ground again, but came up empty. It was quite possible that he'd overlooked something - but Donovan couldn't be that far off, surely. He looked back to the truck, then walked with careful steps toward the back of it. He ducked, peering under the base of it, keeping his guard up for a sneak attack, but saw nothing. He got to his feet, puzzled. "Where the hell…"
Reno turned around, expression wary. The scattered trees around them weren't really substantial enough to hide anyone behind, and there were no tracks leading toward them. The truck… well, it was a mess. His hopes that Donovan had been crushed to a bloody pulp by the base of the truck had been squashed when he'd looked. The only other thing was the river. Reno let his gaze slide dubiously over to the rippling water. He couldn't see anything floating, but that didn't mean that Donovan hadn't been thrown into it by the truck. It was a plausible distance, but…
Reno frowned. It felt… off. Donovan wouldn't let himself drown. He was too stubborn. Unless…
Without thinking anymore about it, Reno found his feet taking him to the water's edge. He looked at the surface with a scowl, then waded a couple of steps in when nothing jumped out at him. The water, probably a clear blue-green in the daylight was nothing more than a waxy-looking, inky pool. Nothing other than the steady flow of the current broke the water. There were nothing more than a few twigs drifting steadily downstream. Overall, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
At all.
Reno scowled. No surprise. Donovan could be rather tricky when he didn't want to be seen or heard. He frowned, concentrating hard…
There was a short noise behind him – the sound of no more than a snapping twig and a startled yelp. Reno spun on his heel, ready to defend himself when he realized that Donovan hadn't been injured, or even hiding. Nor did he have any intention of attacking him directly - not yet at least. No, he'd been lying in wait somewhere until he had found an advantage. And as Reno eyed his ex-partner, now standing silently behind Yuffie, holding her weakly struggling form upright against him with one hand, Reno knew he'd found one.
"Still human, I see."
Human, indeed, a mocking voice in his mind mirrored. Inside, he pictured the haughty form of his devil-self suffering a violent, painful death. Outside, he kept his expression carefully neutral as his eyes washed over the scene before him with a feeling of growing horror. His eyes stopped on a glint of metal; a knife - Donovan's, held inches from Yuffie's exposed neck. Reno hid a scowl as Yuffie's hands came up to clench Donovan's arms in difficulty. Her struggles quickly ceased however, as she seemed to realize that escape, at least that way, was useless.
Reno let his eyes narrow of their own accord. Great. Leverage.
A flash of memory assailed him, but he shoved it away, keeping it far below the surface.
Not again…
"You did it again, didn't you, Reno?"
Reno lifted his eyes from the knife to Donovan's face, to his eyes. The look there, reflected by the beams from the truck's headlights, was a knowing one. He kept wisely silent, knowing the man before him would talk, given time. He was unarmed, injured, and by the appearance of his ex-partner, Donovan was neither of the above. Great. And, of course, Donovan was right…
"You've gotten yourself into the same mess as last time. You broke rule number one again, didn't you?"
Reno scowled. "Stop playing, Donovan."
"Why, Reno? Have I hit a sore point… again? Or have you still not learnt to deal with it? Ashley's dead. Dead as in not coming back. I'd imagine you know whose fault it is. I wouldn't have dreamed of killing the poor boy… until you interfered… but you know how I hate loose ends."
Another flash of memory, closer this time. A large wooden crate, a key, and a truck driving away in the distance…
"Asshole," Reno growled out.
"Yes, we've already established that. What we haven't, however, is what we're going to do with this one. Do you want another death on your hands, buddy?" Donovan yanked back on Yuffie's hair, eliciting a short yelp from the brunette.
Reno resisted the urge to clench his good hand into a fist, and instead took a step forward. He needed to find a way out of this situation. Donovan most likely didn't know who Yuffie was, or what she was to Wutai. If he did, Reno realized, the situation would be a lot more deadly. Donovan's motive would be to escape, and not remain here…
If he could just try and reason then he could perhaps get Yuffie out of this… But he had to do it without letting him know who she was…
"Face it, Reno. You're not finding a way out of this one. You're stuck in a rut."
"And you aren't?" he countered. "You're on the run from everyone, even me!"
"And you aren't?" Donovan laughed coldly. "You're a Turk! You're still at the very bottom of the food chain, despite the status you thought you had. It was all a dream… why do you think I got out of the Turks? They were my ticket from the slums, sure enough, but I have better things going for me now. And you sure aren't the saviour you'd like to be, so I'm sure you see what I'm getting at. You're hated. There aren't many things worse than a paid assassin for the Shinra, my friend…"
Reno smirked bitterly. "No. But I can certainly tell that you're one of those 'things'. Don't you get sick of-"
"Sneaking my way out of things? Using people? Definitely not. You do that for a living, remember? Creeping along with the gutter trash, getting rid of the people who others are too weak to finish off. You're just a tool. I can kill who I like, when I like. For me. And I still get paid more."
Reno's eyes flashed. "What about hiding behind people, partner? I would have imagined you'd think that weak. But then again… I suppose that does classify as using people… you always were a little too good at that."
A raised eyebrow and an ascension of a head in acknowledgement.
"What's the matter?" Reno continued, eyes flashing. "Can't deal with things on your own?"
Reno saw the cold glint return to Donovan's eyes. Good, so he was thinking, perhaps eve about what he'd said. And though he knew he'd never turn him, Reno knew how Donovan's mind worked. They were both stubborn, but if he could convince the other man to fight him instead of taking hostages, then…
Reno paused, frowning. Time for a change in tactics. "So I'm a loose end, huh?" he asked negligently.
"Somewhat, yeah."
"And Ashley was a loose end."
"Of course. He certainly wasn't anything else useful, that's for sure. Couldn't even do his job right."
Reno ignored the offhand comment and pointed at Yuffie and shrugged. "So what is she?"
Donovan looked down at the person he was holding, then back to Reno. "That depends."
"On what? Your mood?" Reno asked snidely.
The corner of Donovan's mouth twitched. "No. On what she is to you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well who is she, Reno? She's not a Turk, that's for sure. Is she another stray you adopted, a misfit you used to get out of a situation who you just couldn't leave behind?"
Reno snorted at the term misfit, it was surprisingly apt. "Hardly."
"Then what?"
Reno's eyes flicked to Yuffie, noticing that the situation had proven to make her a little more lucid, and though there was a glint of fear in her eye he realized that she knew what was going on, and was thinking hard, even now looking to play on Donovan's lack of attention to her. Her mouth moved faintly when she caught his eye, outlining a word, and Reno's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. He returned his gaze to Donovan's without so much as a change in expression. He wasn't close enough to do anything, but Yuffie looked as if she had an idea, as if she was going to try something…
Something had to be better than nothing. Donovan couldn't win again, and Yuffie's safety was already threatened…
"What is she, Reno?"
Misfit…
The corner of Reno's mouth curved upward ever so slightly. He opted for the truth, albeit a slightly altered version. "A tagalong," he said simply.
Donovan raised his eyebrows faintly, lifting the knife a little to run it up along Yuffie's shoulder, then down her partly exposed collarbone. The weapon paused and his gaze flickered to his captive for just a moment, before his glinting Mako eyes returned to Reno's own. "Just a tagalong? Nothing more?"
Reno shrugged, his eyes returning to Yuffie's own slightly clearer ones. She nodded faintly, a movement barely perceptible in the near darkness. "Nothing more," he repeated.
She can't be anything more…
Donovan seemed to think this over for a second, then offered a casual shrug of his own, a smirk creeping all-too easily onto his face. "Well, if that's the case," he began, "then you won't mind if I try this out? I haven't had the chance to use it in quite a while, and my hand's just itching to give it a go." The knife glimmered a little brighter, catching directly on the headlights, and the open threat hung heavily in the air despite the conversational tone.
Reno cocked his head slightly to the side, his eyes drifting lazily over to Yuffie's appraisingly in order to keep up appearances. "Not really," he lied slowly, expression carefully calm. "I didn't ask her to come along."
Whatever you're going to do, brat, do it now…
Donovan tilted his head down to Yuffie, his expression coy. "And what about you?" he asked her lightly, the knife running down her neck again with pressure enough to cause a slight mark, but not yet enough to break skin. An amused glint crept into his icy eyes. "Do you mind?"
Reno watched as Yuffie lolled her head a little, whispering something under her breath in what appeared to be distress. Donovan, seeing this, gave her more leniency and dropped his guard ever so slightly. Reno clenched his teeth together as he watched the situation begin to unfold. Come on…
Donovan leaned in further with a smirk, practically breathing down her neck. The knife lifted, preparing to strike. "What was that, stray?"
"… said… I might have something to say about that!"
Reno watched as Yuffie, before apparently holding herself up only a little, rocked backward in Donovan's grip in an attempt to catch the man further off guard and force him to take all her weight. It worked. As the man tipped backward with an angry yell, she kicked backward with a foot and then an elbow. At the added force the ex-Turk stumbled further, his armed hand flying outward in an effort to rebalance himself. Reno watched as Yuffie darted to the side in order to try and get away at the opening an–
"Bitch!"
But not quite. One of Donovan's hands shot out and snagged Yuffie's as she moved, and though she wasn't fully out of action anymore, she still hadn't been ready for that. Yanked in the direction Donovan was falling, Yuffie stumbled dizzily back into the man, causing them both to collapse backward to the ground from the momentum.
Reno sprinted forward just as he saw Donovan flip the brunette sideways, as he leaned over her, holding her hair tightly to tip her head back. The ever-present knife was suddenly back against her neck, and Donovan's lips were pulled into a thin, hard line.
This time it was clear – he wasn't messing around. The knife began to swipe sideways…
And before he could look anymore into it, or think about the risk involved in what he was doing, Reno dived.
The impact was solid, and the two men rolled haphazardly sideways, off Yuffie and onto the mucky grass. Reno ignored the pain of his shoulder and side, and instead concentrated fiercely on getting the upper hand. It became clear to him, as the two scrambled for the advantage after the impromptu tackle, that Donovan's knife had been knocked out of his hand by the impact, and as they rolled yet again Reno cast a quick glance in the direction in which he had last seen Yuffie.
One glimpse was enough. Yuffie was lying slightly away from them, her form limp on the ground, one hand clasped tightly to her shoulder in order to stem the steady flow of blood leaking out from the deflected knife slash. Her eyes, before showing some semblance of clarity, were half-lidded and dull from the onset of further pain. Donovan may have not killed her, but he had wounded her, and made things a lot more difficult.
Phantom pain swept along his scars, and a momentary flash of memory bubbled joyously to the surface despite it's master's orders…
The knife sweeping out; once, twice. The burning pain…
Like a nightmare, isn't it?
Hopeless… Do you enjoy being human?
Reno felt a surge of rage burnt in him and he darted forward. He didn't even notice the fist that connected with his cheek, nor the knee that dug into his side. With his good arm he punched out, rolling over slightly to avoid another fist in the gut. It was when he was doing this that he noticed something shiny not a few metres away. Recognizing the form of the knife, he leapt at the chance, and kicked out at Donovan in order to break free to reach it.
But, apparently, Donovan had seen it too.
Two strong hands grabbed one of Reno's ankles, preventing him from reaching the dormant weapon. With a yell of frustration and anger, Reno kicked backward, but found his other foot quickly contained as well. Knowing that he wasn't going to reach the knife that way, he twisted his body around and sat up, punching Donovan once in the face, and then in the throat.
The last blow was blocked, however, and Donovan launched himself quickly to his feet and tackled Reno backward, taking them both within a closer proximity to the knife. Knowing what was going to happen if Donovan ended up getting on top in the tackle, Reno made the extra effort to twist his body more, away from his injured shoulder, but Donovan saw this too. A gloved hand grabbed his hurt upper arm as he tried to lever himself upward, and yanked. Hard.
Reno couldn't stop himself from letting out a pained yell, then another when Donovan rolled him onto his back and pressed a fist into his side once again. Reno fell back, gasping for breath, letting his injured arm lie still, reaching out with his other to where he had last remembered the knife was. His hand knocked against something and he began to close his fist over it--
But his ex-partner, now leaning above him menacingly, snatched it from his grasp and looked down at him with a cruel smirk that would have once mirrored his own.
"What good is it going to do?" Donovan asked. "You won't kill me."
Reno's eyes went cold. "Why not?" he asked icily. "I fucking well want to."
"Well I don't see how," the other man replied nonchalantly, offering a brief shrug that was at considerable odds for the situation the two were in. "You still haven't learnt from your past mistake with Ashley, and you let her get hurt." Donovan cast his eyes sideways to Yuffie, and Reno followed his gaze. "They say that history always repeats itself, I guess you're just another victim, ay buddy? Want me to shove her in a box and send her away, too, and let you fumble your chance to save her… again?"
Reno let out an irritated breath as he saw the knife come up out of the corner of his eye, twirling around like a child's toy in Donovan's grip. No, he told himself. You are not toying with me… With a speed that his physically exhausted body should never had been able to accomplish, he sat up and threw a punch at Donovan's exposed ribs, then followed through with an elbow thrust just under the chin. Before Donovan could recover he rolled to the side and got quickly to his feet, ignoring the dizziness that threatened to make him fall flat on his face.
"That's better," he said, shrugging a shoulder and cracking his neck, ignoring the way the ground seemed to rock and sway. "You always were a little heavy."
Donovan got to his feet and Reno watched as he touched a hand lightly to his jaw. Something glinted in the half-light as Donovan's fingers pulled away from the area, and Reno realized it was blood. He smirked, and ignored his momentary surprise. "Oh good. I was beginning to think that you didn't bleed at all. Here was me thinking that you weren't human…"
"Lucky shot," Donovan snapped, lips pulled into a snarl.
"Probably," Reno replied, raising a fist and falling back into a defensive stance. There was nothing in his way now, with Yuffie at the side and no other civilians to worry about. It occurred to him that if he got this fight over and done with, and he won, well… Reno cast a sidelong glance at Yuffie. He had to do this. As Donovan had said, all loose ends would be tied. "Want to see if I can do it again?"
Donovan snorted, a derisive and bitterly mocking sound. The knife that had been half-raised fell even further to his side, and his stance visibly relaxed. "You're kidding me."
"Not really. Despite my job I don't really do this shit for fun."
Donovan raised an eyebrow. "Really? It's ironically amusing, all things considered."
"Your sense of humour always did leave a lot to be desired." Reno cocked his head to the side, raising his hand and clenching and unclenching his fist meaningfully. "So?" he asked. "You up for it?"
Donovan lifted his chin in agreement, expression smug. "Definitely. You on the other hand…"
"Am just peachy. What are you, scared to fight an injured man? You've never worried about it before…"
Donovan raised the knife and fell into a fighting stance at the words, shaking his head in disbelief and taking slow steps to the side. Reno mimicked his movements and they began circling each other, step by step, at identical pace.
Donovan was the first to make a move and break the design, lunging forward with the knife and making a vicious swipe. Reno dodged to the side, spinning backward expertly to face his ex-partner. He took further step backward and it was his turn to shake his head in disbelief. He raised an arm in question. "You're fighting me with a knife? What are you… afraid? Did all that time in the underground fill your head with rubbish?"
Donovan snarled. "What do you know about it?"
Reno shrugged. Donovan had always hated to be questioned. "Nothing, I guess. Only that you're going to fight someone with a dislocated shoulder, a gunshot wound to the side and Leviathan-knows what other injuries with a knife. You aren't even hurt and you're using dirty tactics."
Donovan looked amused. "Complaining, Reno?"
Reno offered a conspiratory wink and measured a tiny distance between two fingers. " Just a little. I thought you always liked a good fight. Or, at least, you used to. Then again, I've fought you twice in the past few days and you've used dirty tactics both times. You're corrupted – go figure you're going to cheat."
"Coming from a Shinra bastard who's too stupid and stubborn to know when to quit…"
"… So… " Reno left the question hanging in the air. Donovan had always been cocky, nearly as much as him on occasion. He would take up this offer. He wasn't one to have his pride questioned…
Not when he was so sure he was going to win.
"If you say so," Donovan replied, and with a careless shrug he dropped the knife. The weapon's blade bit deeply into the soil and remained upright, momentarily forgotten. Reno watched with relief as Donovan brought his fists up and fell back into a fighting stance that had, in the past, been nearly as familiar as his own.
Reno grinned, despite himself enjoying the adrenaline that was flooding through his body. This was his chance to fix everything and set the record straight. He cracked his neck and stepped forward. "Let's dance."
"… And all for a couple of brats."
The fight resumed.
The ground was cold and mucky. The wind, infrequent as it was, was icy. But her body… her body felt like it was on fire anyway. Yuffie shivered – not from the cold, but from the wave of burning pain that was flooding through her body. A small moan escaped her lips, and she rolled a little to the side, her hand pressing weakly against the slash that ran over her collarbone and onto her shoulder. She felt weak and dizzy, her stomach turned, and yet she knew it had nothing to do with the blood she was losing, nor the bump to her head.
Yuffie cast her eyes down, lifting her neck in order to examine the glistening blood seeping from her wound. Something was seriously wrong, and she was beginning to have some idea what it was. A sick feeling washed over her as the conversation she'd had with Reno in the car echoed in her mind, and she remembered the drug that Reno had mentioned. She frowned. It wasn't like she hadn't believed him, but… she hadn't expected it to work so… fast…
Or so strongly.
But did that really matter now?
She let her head drop to the ground, eyes turning away from the sight of the wound as another wave of pain rolled over her. Her hand, before on her shoulder, slipped to the patchy grass. With frightening realization Yuffie realized her strength was deserting her, being replaced with a fire that shot through her nerves, increasing to breaking point anytime she moved, overwhelming her each time she tried to inhale. Yuffie felt her air intake grow more infrequent, and she knew the shallow breaths she was drawing in order to stay conscious weren't helping. Reno was right. This wasn't a normal wound.
It was hell.
Rolling onto her side with a low hiss of irritation, Yuffie dragged open eyes that were threatening to close. Through a growing haze of grey static and dizziness she watched the two silhouettes outlined by the truck's headlights as they began to trade blows. Through the increasing buzzing in her ears that seemed to reverberate through her entire head she managed to catch snippets of conversation, but nothing of use. Reality began to blur, acquired a dreamlike quality. Began to fade.
And time was still moving on.
Yuffie would have punched something in frustration if she had been able to gather the strength. As it was, she had no idea how long she lay prone, her half-lidded eyes watching as Reno and Donovan fought. It felt like forever. Or perhaps it was just a few moments drawn out into what only seemed like that long. Either way, it was cruel and not worth dwelling on.
And she was so tired.
But she couldn't sleep, the pain was so great anyway and so was her fear of the outcome. She wouldn't let herself.
But it would be so simple to just give up, wouldn't it…?
Yuffie forced her eyes open again at the internal voice, and bit her lip in determination in order to wake herself more. The blow to her head from when she'd hit the steering wheel wasn't helping. Nor was the fact the she hadn't slept in… how many days?
Sleep… Go on…
Her hands formed fists, through the burning pain of the drug she felt her fingernails carve tiny half-moons into the palms of her hand. She would not give up. She'd managed to get this far. And what would happen if she left Reno to fight Donovan alone. What if he needed help?
… But what are you going to do to help him?
A low growl formed in her throat and she forced her uncooperative body onto her stomach, aware of the sweat beading on her brow from the simple exertion she was causing herself. Sure that if she tried she could press herself further, Yuffie tried to get onto her hands and knees. But as her palms pressed against the ground, yet another burst of liquid fire shot from her shoulder to her hands, and her minimal progress was stopped as her arms, shaking from her weight and the agony, collapsed underneath her. With a grunt of pain Yuffie let her body sink to the ground, and her face tipped to the side…
Toward Reno and Donovan.
Dimly, from what seemed like miles away, Yuffie watched as the fight continued. Blurred black outlines waltzed in crazy patterns, and not even the cool feeling of mud squelching against her fevered cheek and into her eyes could break her pain-filled reverie. The already limited colour in her vision began to dull, then faded out completely. Sound disappeared, until all that was left was the pain. She wasn't even really aware that she was finally allowing her eyes to close until something disturbing caught her evaporating sight…
Something shiny.
Yuffie's eyes snapped open and she started, momentarily ignoring the pain and the unconscious gasp that slipped from her lips as what she had just seen solidified before her eyes. Slowly – almost painfully so – her vision began to fade back in around the object, like a bizarre kind of zoom, and the scene she was left with caused her almost as much horror as what was going on inside her body.
Donovan kicked out viciously, suddenly, and Yuffie watched as Reno's legs were swiped out from under him. The already injured Turk stumbled backward, and at the show of weakness his ex-partner threw another series of punches to his already existing injuries as he fell. Seconds later the two were on the ground, Donovan leaning forward, kneeling over and pinning Reno's prone form, one hand pressed firmly against his throat.
But that wasn't what worried her. No, it was the hand slowly snaking its way toward a glinting object partly concealed by the cuff of Donovan's pants that had caught her attention.
Cold realization filled her, and a squeak of protest escaped her lips as she watched Reno's partially uncovered good arm claw the ground unknowingly just beyond her. With teeth she hadn't even known were chattering, Yuffie tried to form a word around uncooperative lips, tried to warn Reno about what Donovan was doing behind his back. Some small sound she made must have been good enough, as with relief-filled eyes she watched Reno's own Mako gaze flick over to her.
"Kn-Knife," she mouthed, lifting the hand lying closest to her and making a strained cut-throat gesture across her throat. "He has… another knife."
Reno's eyebrows drew together, but he turned away from her. Whether he understood her or not he gave no sign, instead facing back to his ex-partner with a bitter expression. With growing fright and a cold pool forming in the base of her stomach that did little to counteract the fire running through her veins, Yuffie realized that Reno wasn't ignoring her. He was out of options, and trying to think of something that could help him. And watching her mutter unintelligible phrases wasn't going to help things. The look in his eyes came back to her, and she sucked in a sharp breath. Tell me something I don't know, they had said.
Yuffie's eyes widened and a lump formed in her throat. He needed a distraction. Anything that would even the field.
… A persuasive one, her mind added.
Yuffie's eyes frantically scavenged the area around them for something of use. Her eyes landed on the first knife embedded in the ground a few metres away. Even as she recognized the possibility, though, a sinking feeling hit her, as she knew that no matter the desperation, she would never make it in time to the weapon. Not with her body resisting so fiercely. Desperately, her eyes raked over the area around them, over the items that had fallen and scattered out of the truck when they'd rolled in order to find something closer, more useful.
Many objects that were of use lay too far away, just like the knife, and those that were close to her seemed to be worthless. She had just about given up, was ready to attempt to crawl over and merely collapse on Donovan again if need be, but she knew that she couldn't even if she wanted to. She rolled onto her back and tipped her head upward as a feeling of desolation moved over her. Why did time always work against them? What was wrong with the fates, anyway…
That was when her eyes saw the bag of scattered objects she'd collected in Trent before they'd made their hasty getaway.
It had been lying directly above from her, not a metre away from the top of her head, perhaps the reason why she hadn't noticed straight away. The impact on the ground as well as the tumble out of the truck's shattered window had caused the sports bag to split and spill everything everywhere. Including close to her.
Clenching her teeth, Yuffie strained her arm upward, her fingers clawing out across the ground in an effort to reach anything there she could get her hands on. Most of the materia she'd stolen lay too far away, the others low-level and too weak. But there were other things. She strained her arm further and…
The pain paid off. Her fingers brushed against something, and with a crow of triumph she grabbed the closest thing that looked to be of reasonable weight, and forced her hand to continue to grip it. With parted lips and laboured breath she swung it around, flinging it with her remaining strength in Reno's direction, toward the hand lying closest to her, hoping he would get the gist, before collapsing back to the ground, again unable to do anything more than watch as the knife was unsheathed and began to descend…
She prayed.
It would have to be enough. It would have to…
He knew what came next.
Reno felt Donovan's burning gaze more than the hands on his throat. More than the weight on his chest, side and shoulder he felt the impending doom of the knife, felt the dreadful sound of it sliding out of the oiled sheath. And he knew what it meant…
What it always meant.
Get your ass into gear, idiot, he reprimanded himself, meeting his ex-partner's expression with one of his own. He broke the contact first, looked around, catching Yuffie's gaze momentarily. He watched with expressionless eyes as she crawled onto her side, lifted an arm with obvious struggle, and made a cut-throat gesture across her throat. Her lips, shivering with the concentration, formed words that came out in a croaked whisper. He looked back to Donovan, to the arm that had supposedly unbeknownst to him moved away.
Tell me something I don't know… he echoed to Yuffie as the weapon appeared. Without thought, he examined the knife, noting that it was smaller. Less significant. Even as he willed his body to ready in order to deflect the blade with his own arm if need be, Reno felt his body ache with the need for rest, felt his own tried nerves try to persuade him to let it be ended, and just get it over with. No more trying.
Reno scowled. Yeah right. His mind raced while his eyes locked with Donovan's. The knife came up, paused in midair.
"Guess you missed your chance, buddy," Donovan leered, teeth flashing. And the look , the angle of the knife, and the set of the strong shoulders implied victory. "Too bad you've lost again. But you still don't seem to understand that you're only human, after all."
The knife began to descend, and time blurred.
Something brushed against his fingers. Something rough, but at the same time pliable, and soft. With an expression that he didn't grant the luxury to change, Reno acted before thinking. He gripped the object, formed a fist, tensed the muscles on his partly free arm…
And swung.
The blow, improvised and completely reckless, had been a final effort of defense and left him unguarded, but that no longer mattered. The swinging object, unidentified in the darkness, arched upward viciously, paralleling the knife's own deadly curve nearly identically. The momentum carried it upward, and just before gravity decided to take effect…
There were two thuds, a yell…
And then silence.
Author's Notes: Hey there! Another update! This chapter is a great deal longer than the others, but I'm pretty sure you all won't mind. I didn't want to cut it off at some odd place. The story is nearly done now, so this slight cliffie shouldn't leave you annoyed at me too long. I hope. crosses fingers The next chapter is well on its way to being posted. Enjoy, and don't forget to review? Please?
Tijuana Pirate: Hehe… Uh… what was that about cliffhangers…? Winces I'm sorry… I really am. But I'm nearly done. And there was really no other plausible places to end it. Don't worry, like the other most recent ones, the next update isn't far away.
The Burning Misery: Thanks you for your comments on the realism. I like writing action-segments and I was hoping that I had managed to pull that part off successfully without making it seem… too, cheesy, I guess. I'm glad I have your approval. Hopefully your opinion does not change with this latest chapter?
Eternal Wanderer: Lol… like an action movie? Yeah, I guess so, huh? Ah well, what can I say? I hate dull scenes! I hope you don't hate it too much! As to dealing with more than a couple of characters at once, I haven't really thought about it too much. I usually deal with characters as I perceive them, so as long as I have a clear grasp on what their purpose is in the scene, etc, I usually don't have much trouble. But you're right – it can get difficult with multiple characters. Of course, it doesn't help that in this story Reno and Yuffie are on the run by themselves. And don't worry… We'll get to the others fairly soon. Nearly there…
See you all next update!
Ealinesse.