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, 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 Ten... Human.

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.

Reno felt the weight of the object he was swinging tug painfully at his sore muscles, and with a grunt of obvious effort and just a hint of desperation he forced his arm to work harder. As the knife came down he felt the satisfying thump of the item connecting with the side of Donovan's head. A brief, angered yell of pain was forced from between his ex-partners lips as he was knocked sideways, onto the grass, successfully 'distracted'. But even as he watched the events unfold Reno felt a sharp, biting pain flare across his collarbone that helped to distill the unreal feeling that came with seeing Donovan fall.

With delayed realization Reno discovered that the blade Donovan had been aiming for his throat had instead swiped his collarbone, before going clammering to the grass just beside the fallen man. A hiss of pain formed on his lips, but he allowed himself no time for that. Donovan was trying to get up.

This time he did groan as he forced his aching body to not only get to its knees, but to stand. He swayed a little, then steadied as Donovan rolled around on the ground, holding the side of his head, fingers glistening with fresh blood. Reno's eyes narrowed, and he cocked his head to the side, an unreadable expression on his face. For a moment he allowed his eyes to drift over to Yuffie, then without a word he made his way over to the original knife embedded in the ground. He lifted the weapon, examined it for a moment, but didn't make a move.

Nor did Donovan.

Reno's eyes narrowed more as he watched the man writhe in pain on the damp grass. Something was wrong, and it wasn't that Donovan was trying to get up… it was that he was still trying. He looked closer as the man seemed to try to rise, then fail miserably. It happened a second time, and finally a third. Then it occurred to him what was happening. Reno watched as the movements Donovan was making brought him closer to his dropped second knife. The progression was so slow and uneventful that it was barely noticeable…

At least, not to someone who had never fallen for that particular trick.

"Not again," Reno whispered slowly, memory flashing back to the scene in the alley days before, to the all-too familiar pain in his side. "No more tricks, and no more lies. You're not fooling me like that again. It's time to end this."

And as the other man was about to complete his move, to no doubt turn around with a victorious snarl, to begin to pick up the dropped blade, Reno changed his grip on the knife, balancing it in his grip with his good hand. As Donovan rose, Reno lifted his own arm back, and his eyes flashed coldly. His lips drew into a thin, cruel line.

"Your turn," he bit out, and let the knife fly.

It didn't even take a second for the blade to reach Donovan, but regardless it seemed like forever. Reno watched in morbid fascination as the dagger spun through the air, flashing in an intense blur of flurried movement, before hitting its target just as he reached the other knife. There was a forceful, agonized howl as Donovan was flung backward, twisting slightly with the momentum of the unexpected impact, before he landed on the ground, hands struggling to remove the knife now buried deeply in his back.

Reno stood there for a second, watching as his friend of another time began to writhe on the ground in earnest. Finally, a strange sort of calm moved over him and he felt suddenly steady legs carry him over to Donovan. Before he knew what he was doing, he'd kicked the second blade out of reach and rolled the man onto his back, ignoring the sluggishly bleeding wound and the protruding hilt.

Donovan's eyes flared as the pain increased with the pressure, but he didn't make a sound of protest. Reno returned the cold glare with a steady gaze of his own and crouched beside the fallen man.

"… In the back," Donovan gasped after a second.

"A knife in the back," Reno repeated. "Just like you were kind enough to do to me." He reached behind the man, lifted him slightly, and grasped the weapon's hilt firmly. Without a word of warning he ripped it free, and this time he was rewarded with a gasp and a fierce curse.

When Donovan had recovered, he looked up with eyes that held more than hate. "You won't… kill me."

Reno smirked, the expression slipping onto his face easily considering the circumstances. "You forget what I still do for a living, my friend, not to mention what my orders were. Things are a little different now that you've gone and pissed me off."

Donovan snorted, then sucked in a choking breath when it hurt. "It won't… change anything."

"Wrong. It'll change a lot."

"It won't bring Ashley… back."

"No. But then, I already knew that."

"Did you?" Donovan's hand moved up to the collar of his shirt, and Reno felt his own eyes following it. A slight jingle and a glint of metal later Reno felt his momentary alarm fade as he spotted the tiny item that had been spiting him for years. "And what are you going to do… now that… you've realized that? Hunt the boy down? Bury him? What good… will it do? I saw you searching… the rubble after Meteor, Reno. You didn't… find anything, did you? You were too late to save him… what's the point in hanging in the past… like that… if nothing good can come from it?"

Reno's hand snapped out and grabbed the chain, yanking it free from Donovan's neck and letting it hang in the air for a moment before he examined the tiny golden key attached. "You forget one thing," Reno said slowly, his eyes drifting over to those of his ex-partner's. "Once you're gone, Donovan, I won't have a past."

Donovan grinned, but Reno could see the pain, not to mention the flecks of glimmering crimson beading on his lips. "If only because… you have no one… left."

Reno shrugged a shoulder. "It will be more than you'll have. Where are all your men now, Donovan? You chased me and her down practically by yourself to finish me off, and are instead left with nothing. Your men without a leader. Bad move, buddy."

He was greeted with silence, one which only had a little to do with Donovan's will to ignore him. From where he kneeled he could see the shaking beginning to take over the other man's body, the slight shivering of his lips. The eyes, glowing fiercely in the darkness, were dulling from exposure to the drug. Reno watched a slight pool of blood well up in the corner of Donovan's mouth, trickle down his cheek, and he realized that his aim must have been better than he'd thought. A punctured lung, perhaps? Reno listened, and the sound of wet, laboured breathing alerted him to the fact that his guess was probably right.

Reno leaned forward, placed the key aside for a second, and gripped the original knife, running it lightly over Donovan's cheek. "I guess it's going to be me tying up loose ends tonight. Not you." He pressed the keen edge of the blade slightly firmer, then took it away. A line of crimson not so dissimilar to his own appeared on the skin. Donovan gasped and tried to turn away, to swipe his hand, but Reno stopped him easily this time.

"Aww, Donovan. Can't you handle a taste of your own medicine?"

Donovan's face was bitter. "Just end it, asshole."

"Hey," Reno said lightly, and flicked the knife out again to make an identical mark on the other cheek. "You are what you are, remember?"

"So you… won. Finish it."

"You sound like that's impossible."

There was a short laugh, then a wet cough. "I thought it… was."

Reno smirked. "Assumptions are the mother of all fuck ups, remember? I seem to remember learning that lesson fairly well in the past."

"End it, Reno. I seem… to recall you telling me… to stop toying… earlier. So take… your own advice. Or are you… too scared?"

"You think this is toying?" Reno chuckled darkly, his eyes at odds with his expression. "I could decide not to kill you, to leave you to rot in a cell alone for years, let you suffer your own thoughts and speculations about your fate and how you failed. But you know what?" he added after second. "I'll end it, right here, if only to prove at last that I'm not like you."

"No. You're-"

"Human," Reno finished for him, placing the knife against Donovan's throat. "And an imperfect, asshole of a Turk at that."

Donovan had no answer for that, only lifted a weak hand and pressed down slightly on the blade of the knife in resentful impatience. "Do it," he hissed. "Prove your… point. Live and weep that… that you… failed."

Reno shook his head. "Not this time, Donovan. Not fucking ever." And before he could stop himself he let his arm do the work. He swiped, pressing down hard, ignoring the sudden gush of blood and the gurgling gasp of pain. He kept his eyes instead on Donovan's, and as the light began to fade from the dying man's own blue Mako pools, Reno cocked his head to the side. "I win," he said eventually. "You failed."

When the glow finally dulled, and the man slumped backward, Reno dropped the knife with suddenly nerveless fingers. He sat there for a moment, numb. Not-so-steady hands grabbed for the thin gold chain, and placed it around his neck in a fumbled knot. The metal, still warm from where it had been resting around Donovan's own neck, felt genuine despite the ethereal quality that was threatening to wash over him. Without thinking a hand reached out to feel Donovan's wrist, to examine the pulse that was no longer there. He withdrew his arm, dropped it to his lap, and shook his head, a slow, tired grin creeping onto his face.

"Well, mission… accomplished," he said, voice slightly amused. With a grunt he pulled himself to his feet and retrieved the two blades. With a limp that he struggled to ignore, Reno made his way over to where Yuffie was lying. He crouched by her side, rolled her gently onto her back, and when her eyes didn't open he placed two fingers under her jaw.

"… f'fuck… your hands're… cold, Turk."

Reno jumped slightly, winced when it hurt, then focused an annoyed gaze on the single hazel eye that had crept lazily open.

"…you're still… alive?"

Reno smirked at the tone that crept through her weak, quiet voice. "Don't sound so disappointed."

"Donovan… he dead?"

"And gone," Reno commented.

The corners of Yuffie's mouth twitched, and the other eye crept open. "'bout fuckin' time."

Reno raised an eyebrow. "Nobody's arguing with you there, brat." He shuffled around to her other side, not bothering to waste the energy to stand, and leaned over the gash in her shoulder. He frowned. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone's set… my body… on fire."

"You feeling sick? Dizzy?"

"Jus' dizzy. Headache."

"Not going to pass out?"

"… Dunno."

"Can you sit up?"

"… Wouldn't bet on… it."

"Right." He placed his hands by the wound across her collarbone, angling himself better so the light would let him see it more clearly. The gash wasn't very deep, which was a good thing as far as the drug was concerned, but it was reasonably long, starting just below her collarbone and ending centimetres before the junction of her shoulder. It wasn't enough to kill her, Reno realized, just enough to cause some serious pain. Only repeated injections of that amount would affect her, even without past Mako infusions. Of course, it could cause problems if they stayed out in this cold for too long. Finished, and more relieved than he was willing to admit, he rocked back on his heels and let himself land gracelessly on his ass. "Is it getting any worse?"

"N't really… jus' hurts… lots. Can't really… move much…no energy. Wasted t'all on tryin'… to save your… sorry… ass. Work… okay?"

Reno raised an eyebrow and glanced over at the silhouette of the item he'd used to distract Donovan. "Worked fine," he said after a second.

"So… who owes… who now?"

Reno began counting the score for a second, then gave up. His exhausted brain wasn't ready to cope with anything logical just yet… if ever. He eyed Yuffie with a slightly amused expression, before shrugging. "Pass."

"… Yeah… lost count, too…"

"What say we just call it even?"

"… 'kay." Yuffie's eyes began to slip closed.

"Hey," Reno said, reaching out and slapping her cheek lightly. "Trust me, you don't want to fall asleep right now."

"… do… so."

"Oi!" he said a little louder, voice a little more serious. "You're concussed, you can't sleep or pass out. Stay awake."

Yuffie cracked one eye open, then the other. A thin eyebrow raised, and she poked out her tongue. "Jerk… not fair… you got to... pass out."

Reno didn't say anything, and they fell into silence for a couple of minutes, simply basking in the fact that they were both still alive. Eventually, Reno pushed off the ground and got to his feet, his eyes catching on Donovan's body for only a moment before passing it by. It was time to leave. He faced the truck and scowled. Like that was going to do them any good.

"what… now?"

 Reno glanced back down at Yuffie, and winced. "We get out of here."

"what… about all this… mess?"

"Reeve'll have someone clean it up. Rude, Elena and me are done with this shit for a while." He didn't bother to voice the fact that he didn't know where Elena and Rude were, or whether they'd made it to Junon themselves. Donovan hadn't said anything, but…

"So… to Junon?"

"To Junon," Reno muttered, realizing what it meant.

"Wait," Yuffie said when he began to crouch beside her. "When I went out… there was some… materia. Cure, I think. But… "

Reno got back to his feet and looked around. Sure enough, by the spilt bag of equipment that Yuffie had managed to steal he spotted a series of scattered, familiar, faintly glowing green stones. Reno made his way over the group which had previously been out of Yuffie's reach, examined them, and picked a couple out. "They're weak," he said after a moment, "but there's a Cure Materia here, as well as a Stage One Heal."

"… good."

"But," Reno continued, with a disgusted expression on his face. "There isn't a lot of guts in them. We're going to have to use it sparingly." Without another word he crouched beside her, closed his eyes, and concentrated. A warm green glow spread around Yuffie's prone form for a moment before fading out. Reno watched as the gash on her shoulder closed, as well as the one above her eyebrow. All that was left was a slight bruise, and the paleness of her skin. The cut on her cheek also disappeared, he noticed, and didn't leave so much as a scar. He nodded in satisfaction.

"A little better?"

"Yeah…" Yuffie said after a moment. "But-"

"Still burning?" Reno guessed.

"Uh-huh."

"It will," Reno said with a bitter shrug, one hand going to his own scars. "You just have to let it run its way out of your system. It shouldn't be too bad for long - that cut was shallow. I'd wager not a lot of the toxin got in, especially since he didn't hit where he was aiming. You just need to rest and let it wear itself out."

"Sleep?" Yuffie asked, hopefully, sounding for all the world like that was all she cared about.

"Not quite." Reno snorted. "Cures don't heal concussions, either. Nice try, though."

"… useless," he heard Yuffie mutter. "Days without… sleep… and now… that it's over… I still bloody can't."

"Bitch, bitch, bitch," Reno retorted. Closing his eyes again, he gauged the little remaining power left in the Cure, and cast it over himself. The emerald blaze returned again, visible even through his closed eyelids, and he knew more than felt the wound on his side, and the newer one on his shoulder, begin to close. He knew that with how weak this Materia was, that it wouldn't be able to heal his dislocated shoulder, but even so it made him feel better.

Feeling some semblance of human again…?

Reno snickered at the thought.

"Better?" Yuffie asked.

"Much," he replied, feeling the intense ache in his limbs subside slightly. He looked back to the bag, then began filtering through it. "What else do you have in there?"

"Nothing much. Just random… junk. There was… some-"

"You stole cigarettes?" Reno exclaimed as his hands closed over several small packets.

"Said… you were dyin'… for a smoke…"

Reno didn't say anything in reply. Instead, he selected a packet, tore it open, and pulled one out, thanking whatever sick god there was up there that at least none of them had been snapped. He began rifling through the bag again when it occurred to him that he had nothing to light it with. After a moment he came across another materia, a Stage One Fire. He cast the spell carefully, focusing on the end of the cigarette so he didn't end up igniting the whole thing in his hand, and grinned when it worked. With relish he sat back, lifted the smouldering stick to his lips, and took a long puff. Only when he was sure he'd poisoned his body even more did he let it out, blowing a couple of rings of smoke for good measure.

"Bad habit… ya know."

Reno cast an amused glance at Yuffie, noting the tiny smirk on her face. He inhaled another long, deliberate breath, and shrugged. "You shouldn't have brought them along, then."

"Reckon I… shouldn't have."

Reno snorted. "Then why?"

"Why not?" Yuffie retorted. "I broke into… a wrong store… and ended up grabbing one… of everything, including… smokes. 'Sides, you kept bitching about… not having one."

He didn't have a comment for that, and the cigarette was still beckoning. He finished it off. Then on second thought, he lit another, finished that one, and got to his feet, pocketing the packet and the small orb of materia in his jacket. "Ready to go?"

Yuffie nodded slightly, then squeezed her eyes closed in what Reno assumed was a silent reprimand at herself for doing something so stupid. "Yeah, but… I hate to burst your… bubble… but… how?"

"We walk."

"… Oh. I was kinda hoping… you weren't going… to say that."

Reno watched as a slight frown tugged at Yuffie's mouth. "What are you looking so annoyed about?" he asked. "It's not like you'll be able to do anything. Consider yourself lucky."

Yuffie's eyes widened. "You're… leaving me here? With…?"

Reno raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Doubt it. Reeve is probably ready to skin me alive, and as funny as it'd be, I doubt leaving you here will do me any good." He crouched beside her, lifted her shoulders with some effort thanks to his own protesting injury, and helped her to sit up. "Nope, you're coming for a tour."

It took them a while to get Yuffie to her feet. Despite her help, and her attempts to cling to Reno, her body was resisting, and the dizziness that Reno could see trying to pull her to the ground wasn't helping. Eventually they reached an arrangement, and both were left standing there for a moment in order to catch their breath from the exertion even that had caused them, Yuffie leaning heavily on Reno's good side, arm around his neck.

"What happened… to your… shoulder?" Yuffie asked when she'd caught her breath.

"Landed on it wrong." Reno cast a sidelong gaze at her. "Something to do with going flying off a moving truck."

"… Heh."

"Yeah. Real funny."

They made their way around the truck, after establishing that there was no way they'd be able to get across the river or get the smashed-up vehicle up the hill, then stopped altogether when it occurred to them that this was going to be harder than they'd thought. Reno frowned, looked to Yuffie, then back to the steep, muddy embankment looming oppressively in front of them.

"… crap. Knew it… couldn't be that… easy."

Reno swore and reached for his pocket, before letting them both sink to the ground. "Out of ideas. I need another cigarette."

Yuffie scowled as gravity pulled at her. Her head twinged in protest at the ungainly position, and her body hissed in pain, her nerves burning wherever her skin made contact with something else. For about the thousandth time her head bumped against the back of Reno's knees, and she let out another muffled yelp of protest, for all the good it was going to do. After what seemed like forever, but what could have only been about thirty seconds, the hellish movement stopped, and she ceased swinging, her arms dropping to the ground.

"Goddamn you're heavy for someone your size," she heard Reno grunt.

"Didn't ask… you to… throw me over your… shoulders like a sack'a… potatoes, ya know!"

There was a short laugh, and Yuffie felt herself being lowered to the ground. Reno's face appeared in front of her, white teeth glinting in the darkness, and she decided he looked a little too happy about annoying her. But at least he was back to normal. Kind of. The more familiar, arrogant attitude of the Turk was easier to deal with. It was less human, more… tolerable, surprisingly. She considered it a good thing…

"It was either that or drag you up the hill."

Or perhaps not.

"I'd have rather… you left me…" she retorted, and let herself flop down bonelessly onto her back. The liquid fire coursing through her veins was still sapping her strength, though not quite as much as before. Reno had said she just needed rest, and if she went to sleep she could get rid of this pounding headache. If she could just close her eyes for a second…

"Oi!" A cold hand slapped lightly against her cheek, and Yuffie cracked open an eye in annoyance.

"Le'mme alone."

"No fucking way. You can't sleep."

"Says who? I should… just make you carry… me… if you're that… keen to do so."

"Oh no you don't."

"Why not? I've… lugged your… sorry ass around… enough. 'n you're heavier… than me…"

Reno scowled. "Brat, if you fall asleep, I'm leaving you here."

"Oooh… the threats." Yuffie let her eye slide closed, and rolled her head to the side dramatically. "Mmmm… sleep…"

"Are you always this annoying when you're concussed?"

Yuffie let a lazy smile slide onto her face. "Pretty much…"

There was a curse from beside her, and Yuffie felt hands begin to maneuver her. She briefly considered helping, but last time Reno had tried to lift her she'd only caused them to fall flat on their backs. So she lay still on the cold grass, letting her body relax, trying to ignore the effects of the drug and simply sleep…

Until she felt her arms begin to dangle again, and the blood rush to her head, increasing her headache and the pain. "Hey!" she hissed, knowing what card Reno had pulled in order to get her attention. "Let me… down!"

She was quickly set to her feet. She felt an arm slide around her waist, and felt her own being slung around Reno's shoulders. They resumed walking, and Yuffie let her feet drag a little before forcing them to take as much weight as they could. She glared at Reno out of the corner of her eye, seeing the laughing blue orbs staring back at her with mirth at having tricked her into getting to her feet.

"… Ass," she muttered.

"Yeah, well. Knew you'd eventually see it my way."

"Like I had… any choice."

"Exactly. Now keep walking and stay awake."

It took them the better part of half an hour to make their way down the road until the other car appeared out of the darkness. The battered red sedan lay at an odd angle on the road, engine, like the truck they'd left behind, still running. The stolid beam of the headlights pierced the inky sky, facing off in the direction of the trees on the other side of the road. Reno let his eyes wash over the vehicle's silhouette, and for a moment he considered walking right past it.

Only for a moment, mind you.

Moving over to the side of the road, Reno lowered Yuffie to the ground and stood back up.

"'re we there… yet?"

Reno smirked at the provoking tone in Yuffie's voice and looked down at her. "Not quite," he replied.

"How far… have we gone?"

"About two kilometres. We're at the other car."

"… oh, skippy."

Reno raised an eyebrow but didn't bother to comment. Instead, he circled the car, taking in the damage with sharp eyes. Overall, it didn't look too bad. Of course, 'too bad' simply meant that it was in better condition than their other truck, and in a more favourable location. Minus the windscreen he'd shot out. And the blown tyre. And the body of the previous driver lying awkwardly in the back seat. And the shattered glass scattered all over the front seats. He frowned, examined the petrol gauge, noticed it was full enough to at least take them back to Trent, and decided that it was better than nothing.

He went to work on the car, swiping as much of the glass from the front seats and panels as he could, before hunting through the interior for a blanket. He was in luck - for a change. In the back seat, lying under the discarded body, was a large, folded-up, polar fleece seat cover. Sliding out from the front seat, Reno pulled the body out, only paying slight attention to the familiarity of the face, before shoving it down the slight bank beside the car.

You're second…

Reno smirked as the body tumbled down the hill and proceeded to crash into the trunks of one of the trees with a sickening crack. Not quite second, but surely good enough. He turned back to the car, retrieved the blanket, and tore it just left of the middle. Placing the first, smaller part in the driver's seat, he tucked it in all the small gaps to cover any remaining glass, before doing the same with the other half in the passenger seat. Done with that, he popped the boot and slid the bottom panel away, noting with relief but also dread the spare tyre that lay there.

"This is gonna hurt," he remarked as he hauled out the jack and the tyre with one arm. Crouching by the blown tyre, he placed the hoist under the car and got to work.

He didn't know how long it took him, but it was certainly longer than he'd thought it would, considering he only had one good arm to work with. By the time he was done, and the spare tyre had been bolted on, the blown one thrown away with the body, he'd broken out into a fine sweat, and his worn out muscles had begun to complain again, not to mention his shoulder…

Reno got to his feet and walked over to Yuffie, kneeling beside her. In between hoisting the car, removing the tyre, adding the other tyre, and lowering the jack, he'd also had to keep her awake. He noticed with some exasperation that she'd let her eyes close again, but that anger soon faded when he noticed her increasing shivering. With a curse he lifted her up, cursed again when his shoulder flared in pain, and hauled her over to the passenger seat. On second thought, before closing the door, he pulled the remains of the blanket around her and flicked on the seatbelt to help secure it, then released the switch on the seat to allow it to recline slightly. Without a windscreen, this was going to be a bitterly cold drive - he couldn't afford to let her get any worse. The drug was enough… a counteracting chill on top… would not be pleasant to say the least. He knew; he'd been there – days in a dingy, freezing cell had not helped his recovery, he could remember that much.

With a final check over the car, Reno got into the driver's seat, grateful that the vehicle was also an automatic, and spun it around, pulling away from the grass and onto the road steadily. Holding back his shivers, and the oncoming dust that rose up from the upcoming gravel, Reno squinted his eyes and focused his eyes on the road. Water filled his eyes as the icy breeze assaulted them, and he narrowed them further, scowling. Right about now, his favoured glasses would have been extremely handy. But no. He'd had to go undercover as a pizza delivery puberty boy in the middle of the night instead.

Nearly without thinking his hand snaked into his pocket. It was about time for another smoke.

Yuffie yawned and opened her eyes as a hand began to shake her shoulder. With a muffled dismissal she shrugged the arm away, and snuggled back down into the seat. "'m awake," she muttered.

"Sure," came the voice from beside her. "Just like you've been awake for the past couple of hours."

Memory returned in a rush, and Yuffie bolted upward, only to find the hand on her shoulder pressing her back down. Her aching head, which she'd previously forgotten about, began throbbing fiercely in a demand for attention as she did so, and she let it drop back to the headrest. The fire, before unbearable, had begun to subside.

"Ow," she moaned, lifting a hand and placing it gingerly against her temple.

"Yeah, well. Concussions are like that, you'll find."

"Tell me about it," she snapped back. But at least she wasn't so sore now, only tired. She was pleased to note that some of her strength had returned, though she still wasn't anywhere near her usual energetic self. Reno had apparently been letting her sleep a little, and every while or so she would find a hand shaking her shoulder in order to check up on her. Obviously, this was just another one of those times. Yuffie tipped her head sideways, closing her eyes against the light.

Wait… light?

Yuffie's eyes snapped open and she lifted her head toward the direction the windscreen should have been, a groan slipping from her lips and her eyes aching with the sudden demand for usage as she tried to sit up a second time. Again there was a hand on her shoulder, and she let it push her back, though her eyes stayed on the scenery in front of them.

"You think you'd learn," Reno said, his good hand returning to the wheel.

She shook her head as much as it let her, and glanced briefly at Reno. "What time is it?"

"About five-thirty."

"That late? Where're we?"

"A couple of hours from Junon."

Yuffie frowned, casting her squinting eyes out over the orange glow washing over the open fields surrounding the road. The scenery was familiar, but not something she could look at for a long time, and there was still no sign of any civilization. She closed her eyes and dropped her head back again, then on second thought looked back to Reno. "Why's it taking so long? Shouldn't we have been there hours ago?"

Reno shrugged. "Take your pick of reasons. We're running on an old-fashioned temporary tyre, one that'll blow like the other one if we go too fast. Secondly, the car has already been bashed around, and I don't want to push the engine in case it is damaged. And lastly, in case you haven't noticed, we're kind of missing a windscreen. I don't know about you, but it's not exactly Costa del Sol in here. If we go faster, our asses'll freeze to the seats."

Yuffie shivered, suddenly all too aware of the icy breeze circulating through the car, and the thin blanket that was covering her. The sun, although rising, wasn't at the point where it was doing anything to warm up the countryside, and she thought she'd seen the faintest traces of a frost coating the ground, which wasn't helping. She let out a slow breath, and the hazy mist that slipped from between her lips only confirmed the fact. "So… a couple of hours, then?" she asked. "Then Junon?"

"Depends if we hit any traffic. Probably. Perhaps less. At least, I fucking hope it's less."

Yuffie frowned at the pinched expression on Reno's normally untroubled face. "How long've you been driving?"

"Four, five hours."

"That long?"

"Spare tyre, no windscreen, remember?"

"I can't believe it's this late…"

"Early," Reno corrected her, and fixed her with a blunt stare.

"Oh yeah. Well, then-"

Reno snorted. "Go back to sleep, brat."

Yuffie smirked at the tone. "Well, "she began, "I could always drive…"

"Oh. Right. And try to kill us again? Fat chance. Go back to sleep."

"So underappreciated," she muttered. "It wasn't my fault someone fixed the brakes, and I seem to remember you handing me the steering wheel…"

There came a snort from beside her. "Never again, I'll tell you that."

"Jerk."

"Brat. Now, g-"

"Go back to sleep. Yeah, yeah. You won't see me complaining." Yuffie complied without another word and closed her eyes again, which had already been threatening to slide shut on her anyway. She was still exhausted, more so than she was willing to admit, and sleep would do her good.

She was asleep before she knew it.

Reno clamped his teeth together to stop the shivering and tipped his head back against the headrest. His whole body was twinging with the need to get up and walk around, but they were nearly there - if he stopped now he didn't know if he'd be able to get back into the car and continue driving. They'd just passed through the last small town before their destination, and were now about ten minutes out of Junon. He felt a smile creep onto his face, but it was soon suppressed as thoughts of his partners pushed themselves into his mind. Surely they'd made it out. He'd found no bodies on the rooftops, and no sign of them anywhere else. The fact popped into his head that Donovan hadn't mentioned anything about them, and he found himself hoping more than was healthy that they'd escaped to the safehouse without a hitch.

"Idiot. Stop it," he muttered to himself, rubbing a weary hand over his face and instead focusing on the road. But even so, he couldn't ignore the feeling of the chain around his neck, swinging faintly in the forced breeze, nor the phantom burning of the scars on his cheeks.

Twenty minutes later, no thanks to a farmer shifting cows and his seeming inability to control them, not to mention another dent in their car, they reached the outside gates of Junon. Reno noted with some annoyance that since it was still early, and the time for travel was questionable, that the outside gates were closed and there was a guard posted outside. Reno pulled up to the small roadside office and rolled down his window, realizing how pointless this was probably going to be. The outcome was going to be the same either way, he was sure.

The solo guard, dressed in the familiar navy getup of a Shinra worker, stepped out of the office, eyeing the car warily through his tinted visor.

"Sir?"

"Yo," Reno said, tipping his head backward and biting back a wince. He knew what was coming.

"I'd ask to see your civilian ID, please."

Reno felt a bubble of annoyance grow inside him, rising to the surface and threatening to overflow at the predictability of the phrase. He knew he looked suspicious, he knew he was in a car that shouldn't even be on the road, but he sure as hell hadn't made it this far only to be stopped by some idiot who was doing his job a little too well. "Look," he said tiredly, rolling his head sideways on the support to better glare at the man. "I don't have it on me. And I'm not a civilian, either. I'm an assistant to President Reeve."

The man raised an eyebrow, and a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth until he realized that Reno was being serious.

"Sir," he said again, "I can't let you in without your Identification Card. Everyone has one these days, especially execs. Where is yours?"

"With Reeve," Reno replied, realizing how lame it sounded despite the fact that he was opting for the truth… for a change.

"Right," the man said after a second. "Well then perhaps you can give me the number and I'll patch it into the computer?"

Shit. He never had bothered to pay much attention to it, let alone remember his number. In the past intimidation had been his forte, not playing by the rules. But these days…? Reno let a rueful smile slip onto his face, before affecting a look of concentration. "Oh-five… four-eight. Dash. Two-nine… ah, fuck. Four-four… two?"

The guard typed in the number, and shook his head. "Sorry, sir. No such number."

Reno pursed his lips. Frankly, he wasn't all that surprised - he'd just pulled the number out of thin air. "You're not going to let me in, are you?" he asked resignedly after a moment.

"Not without an ID, no."

Reno scowled, realizing his earlier prediction had been true. "Oh, great. Just what I need. An asshole with an authority problem."

"I'm sorry?"

"You're an asshole," Reno said without any qualms. "I've been driving for fucking seven hours straight, and now you're not even going to let me into my destination. I'm freezing cold because some jerk sideswiped me and shattered my windscreen outside of Trent and I've driven that far without it because I didn't have a choice. And you're going to stop me! After all this way, you're going to say 'sorry, sir, I can't let you in'."

The man eyed the car's battered exterior dubiously, a hint of guilt showing in his eyes. "I don't see how that's my problem. I'm just doing my job."

"Right. Do I look like I care what your job is? Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, you can shove it up your ass."

"Sir, please watch your language!"

"Or what?" Reno snapped, raising an eyebrow and offering a feral grin. "You going to make me?"

The man took a step backward, but his expression hardened. "Y-yes. I'll be forced to-"

After taking a quick look around to make sure there was no one watching, Reno squared his jaw resolutely and opened the car door before the sentence could be finished, leaping out and knocking the man over with a swift kick that probably hurt him more than the other guy. As the guard started to get up from the dusty ground, true anger finally written on his face, Reno delivered a quick, precise blow to the junction of the man's neck and he went out like a light. Reno snickered as the man slumped to the ground, and before he could think about what he was doing he'd bent down to lift the unconscious man away from sight –

"Fuck!" Reno swore, jumping back and holding his shoulder. "You stupid idiot!"

With a little more care he bent down and grabbed one of the man's arms with only his good one, and dragged him a short distance away from the road, so no one who wasn't looking would see him. He took a second look around, saw the area was clear, and then walked into the office and pushed the release button for the gate. He watched with a satisfied smile as with a loud rattling noise the heavy gates slid open, revealing the outskirts of Junon beyond.

"And it's only seven-thirty," he remarked, stepping back into the car. "But fuck knows why all the guards Reeve hires are incompetent slum rats!"

"… Does that include you?" came the quiet, but amused voice from beside him.

Reno glanced across at Yuffie, noting the half-lidded eyes and the slight grin. "I'm not the one that was so desperate for my company that I tagged along on a bloody suicide mission, now was I?"

The dark eyes slipped closed, and a tongue was poked out. "Saved you from bein' butchered a few times, ya know."

"And vice versa," Reno countered, pulling the car away from the edge and through the gate.

"Still underappreciated," he heard Yuffie mutter sleepily. "Useless… Turk…"

He didn't waste his breath on replying, without looking he could tell she was asleep as soon as her head hit the support again. Instead, he concentrated on navigating his way through the growing city of Junon, and the increasing traffic, unable to keep the feeling of apprehension from pooling in the base of his gut. He was nearly there, and though he looked forward to getting back to some semblance of safety, he didn't know just who would be there to greet him when he did…

The lights were on, that was the first thing he noticed. The second was the familiar car parked outside. The familiar, black car that the three of them had driven to the final preparatory mission briefing… His car. Reno pulled the stolen vehicle up to the side of the suburban road, ignoring the sign just beyond that told him it was illegal. Switching the engine off, he cast his eyes up to the second floor of the familiar Inn again, seeing the rough outline of a human figure blocking a small portion of light from behind the lit-up curtains. The silhouette, although slightly blurry, was also familiar, as was the second one that soon joined it.

Reno let his head tip backward against the headrest in a weary sort of exhausted reprieve. The huge weight that had been shackled to his shoulders since the beginning of all this eased, and he was left with a casual smirk on his face. Casting his eyes toward the sleeping ninja in the passenger seat, Reno pulled the keys from the ignition, got out of the car and walked around to Yuffie's side. Freeing her from the seatbelt but not the blanket, he slung her over his shoulder when she didn't wake, and crossed the road.

With a grin that just wouldn't leave his face, Reno slipped up to the concealed side door of the Inn, moving around the cameras he knew to be positioned in various locations around the building, and through the small corridor without a sound. His friends had given him a fright, it was his turn to return the favour…

Author's Notes: Well, there we have it, the second-to-last chapter. I hope it wasn't too bad! This one took a little longer due to the fact that RL decided to interfere, but I hope it wasn't too suspenseful-a wait. I see the new formatting is working, which is good, especially considering the way ffnet screws around with it all the time. With any luck, I should have the next and final update for this story done within the week.

Silverburner: Thanks! I'm glad you like it! Hrm… more Reffieness. Well, we'll see what happens in this one. Depending on encouragement, I may write a fic that takes place after this… or not. It's entirely up to you guys, really, and what you think...

Eternal Wanderer: Yes, a cliffhanger ending, lol. It wasn't really too bad, though, I hope… and I did update fast-ish. "Luck is my middle name. Mind you, my first name is Bad." – I love it! I haven't read any Terry Pratchett, but I've got a friend that does. That saying, especially, suits the situations they always manage to get into perfectly! And to be honest, I was worried about how the tampering with the brakes was going to be received, so I'm glad you didn't have any problems with it. Thanks!

The Burning Misery: Thank you again for the wonderful comments on my actions scenes! I do try! And with regards to Yuffie's role in the fight, I didn't want to turn her into a useless little tagalong, now did I? Lol… Apparently she likes to be useful.  

Tijuana Pirate: Winces Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it had to be done. I almost didn't end it there, you know, but the chapter would have been about a thousand words longer, and would have closed in a stupid place, so I opted for that particular ending… I know it's frustrating, but it did work out a lot better. Thank you for the lovely comments on the car chase, btw! I hate leaving characters out, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Angel Yuffie: Wow, two days? Go you! I sure hope you enjoyed this update as much as the rest of the stories. The next chapter will be up soon!

See you all next update, and don't forget to review!!

Ealinesse.