Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and its characters don't belong to me. This is an AU (alternate universe) involving characters that have (so far) shown up exclusively on the Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII cellphone game. This does not mean that the story will be following the game of Before Crisis; I have no access to the game other than pictures and the website, so I couldn't write a fanfic faithful to the game even if I wanted to.
The major part of Before Crisis taken for this story is the existence of the Turks six years before the FF7 storyline. That alone doesn't really say much, but I hope the story will make sense without going into major details. Things will unfold and make more sense as we go along, don't worry.
There will be "original" characters in this story. They're modeled after the Turks in Before Crisis, so I use the term "original" loosely. Their personalities are of my own design, but you can look at the official pictures of Before Crisis to get the gist of what they look like.
Let's get the party started, ne?
Started: January 22, 2005
Finished: January 23, 2005
A Prelude For Many
He exhaled. A puff of smoke danced through the air.
He took another drag of his cigarette, enjoying the frigid air of the world above the plate. Midgar was reaching the last leg of the winter season; the cold days were becoming fewer and with more breaks of warm sunlight in between, with the occasional rainstorm literally dampening his day. He preferred the cold weather, as it brought with it a pleasant numbness that bombarded his entire body; that numbness would follow him into his office, where it would be replaced by prickles and sparks of fire through his nerves.
As of late, those prickles and sparks were all that reminded him of his former line of work. A vague flicker of thrill in an otherwise bland job.
He dropped the butt and ground it under his heel, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he turned back to enter the cafeteria. Shinra employees sat at the numerous tables that littered the floor, talking amongst themselves and enjoying their contractual lunch breaks. In comparison, he could have lunch breaks anytime he wanted; that was the beauty of not working for Shinra anymore.
If you could call it a "beauty" at all.
He pulled out his PHS and dialed for Reeve. Tseng was out on a surveyor run with Scarlet; more than likely to Junon, as that was where Scarlet seemed to be working lately. "Hey, Reeve, can you come and pick me up? Lunch's over."
"Care to pick me up a coffee while you're waiting, then? I'm up to my ears in reports and my machine's broken." Daniel Reeve, master of all-nighters, was an infamous caffeineholic. His broken coffee maker must have been the cause of much grief.
"No prob. You're paying me back, though."
While he was waiting to buy Reeve's coffee, he decided to check his inventory. Shades, keys, ID, wallet… He fingered his crummy second-rate PHS with a wry smile; it was a gift from Tseng - whether out of pity or as a "bonus," he did not know. It was functional, but lacked in personality. Rude, though usually silent in his observations, would have commented on how stupid he sounded. He chuckled to himself at the thought of Rude doing just that, his mind wandering from his task for a few minutes.
A slightly wistful smirk was on his face when he met up with Reeve. The older man raised a brow, taking the proffered cup of coffee and gesturing for him to follow. "Someone sit too close to the leaking pipes?" he asked sarcastically, slashing his keycard for access to the executive elevator.
"Nah… Just reminiscing." He tilted his head to look at the ceiling of the elevator. "You know."
Reeve nodded understandingly. When he was not working, Reno was usually hanging around the building - as if staying on the premises helped him absorb memories of a better time. He used the term "better" loosely; a time of strife and conflict was not exactly his definition of a better time.
But such times were what Turks lived for.
Or used to.
He never asked about the details, mostly because the disintegration of the Turks was a touchy subject for Reno and Tseng. He knew it involved the death of Veld Bremerton, Tseng's former mentor and the manager of the Turks, and one of the new recruits, but no one in upper management - excluding the president and his son - seemed to know anything beyond that.
Six years ago, Reno and the rest of the Turks lost their special status within Shinra. The funds set aside for their syndicate were sent into the science department a year later, for some huge cleanup that Professor Hojo was in charge of. Tseng was kept on company payroll due to a special request from Scarlet, and Tseng had hired Reno as a personal assistant of sorts. Knowing the young Wutaiian, Tseng would have hired all of his former Turks if he had the salary to do so. As it was, Tseng was currently paying Reno out of his own pocket. The only other Turk that was kept employed by Shinra was Antimony Carver, and even she was not making the same kind of money she had been as a Turk.
The elevator stopped at the lobby, pinging cheerfully as the doors opened.
"Thanks, Reeve," Reno said, shoving his hands back in his pockets as he looked at the executive. "Goin' back to work?"
"Unlike you, Reno, I don't get to make up my own hours," Reeve said wryly, taking a sip of his coffee. He grimaced at the taste. "Black?"
Reno shrugged, his face splitting into a grin. "You didn't specify on what you wanted." He lifted one hand as he headed for the entrance. "See ya tomorrow, Reeve."
The redhead whistled as he strode out of the building. He stood in front of the complex for a moment, mulling over what to do with the rest of his day. After a minute of deliberation, he pulled out his PHS and dialed.
"Hey, Rude, you busy? You wanna go hit some bars?"
It was never too early to get smashed.
Huzzah, and here I am in the FF7 fandom once again. I haven't touched this fandom in years, seriously. Shout outs to Reno Spiegel and Zeng Li; Reno for the fics that got me interested in the Turks and Zeng for coming up with "Reno Nevada." I'm not sure if I can credit Zeng with "Daniel Reeve" also, as I've seen some other fics that use the name, so I'll leave that one wide open. Thanks for reading.