I Tried - Chapter 14
Enter the Turks
He didn't remember getting home that night. When he woke up, he was in bed, expecting her to be there next to him. Putting a hand over his eyes he felt for her. Then Reno smelled the gunpowder on his hand. Then he felt the nightstick where she should have been. It was like a bad horror movie scene, where something from a nightmare follows one into reality. Letting go of the cold metal stick, Reno stared at his hand. Pain blurred his vision, but he couldn't bring himself to cry. It got intense, so much so that he could hear his blood pulse in his ears.
He'd let her die.
She wanted him to stop, she'd asked him to. Brought up again and again how nice it would have been to move in with Tifa, or anyone. And now, where was she?
In the incinerator by now, with all the other people that had died that night.
Because he hadn't been there to stop it.
Reno forced himself out of bed, staggering with the pain in his head. Then he moved to Suzanna's crib and leaned on it. The old wood creaked, echoing in his throbbing skull. The little child was asleep, breathing steadily. He picked her up, careful not to wake her, though she stirred anyway. Turning her head, something told Reno that the baby was looking for her mother.
"She's gone Trigg… I- I-"
With a yawn, Suzanna leaned into his shoulder, gripping his shirt with tiny fingers. She was asleep again in a few moments.
"-I'm so sorry, baby." Was all that he could say.
Red Wolf was never more apt. Reno had become something possessed. On the streets he was deadly; the few remaining Pirates members would run if they even thought he was going to be in the sector. Things he had let slide in the past were now infractions that cost dearly, his own gang members were starting to be afraid of him. At home, while he was still the same to Padre and Mariah, one could feel anger radiating off of him. It was mostly self directed, showing itself in fierce protectiveness.
More then once Padre had to urge the young man to sleep, to rest in some form before he collapsed. Twice, the priest had come into Reno's room, waking him from a nightmare. The first time when Reno started awake Padre had jumped backwards. The look on the young man's face was nothing short of murderous. The two had stared at each other for minutes after that, before Reno pulled his knees to his chest. Padre sat next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Reno mumbled into his knees then. "You always say that there's a reason for everything."
Padre closed his eyes; it had been his life's work to help others through their sins, through their walking nightmares. It had never been his job to solve those problems, not his place nor his desire. And yet, with this boy, he felt so helpless. It was like watching an animal with its leg caught in a trap, struggling anyway, even though it was dying. He wanted so desperately to say something motivating, to DO something, and he was powerless. "I do."
"Then, why her? Why not me?" Reno looked up through his bangs.
It hurt, to see him like that. It hurt, knowing how much potential the boy had. While Padre blamed the system, ShinRa, as a group of hell bound killers. The trouble was that while placing blame was convenient, it was nothing but the reality; it was the snare that held onto the boy's leg. Padre knew that political talk wouldn't ease Reno's pain. He wished to God that he knew what could. "You have things in life to do yet, Reno." He said at length.
Reno was quiet for a long time. Padre stood, walking to the door before the boy spoke. "What if those things aren't good things?"
That shook him; to the bone it shook him. The old doorknob squeaked in his hand. "That's to be seen Reno, get some rest." For some reason, Padre couldn't bring himself to look at Reno on his way out.
He was in a particularly bad mood that day. Red Wolf just needed an outlet. His outlet happened to be in the form of an ex-Pirate. Yes, it was neutral territory. That, however, didn't matter to an angry gang lord looking for a fight. He stood stock still for a moment, waiting for Spinner to see him. They made eye contact, then Reno smiled.
It took the other man all of two seconds to tear down the alley for all he was worth.
Of course, running from Reno was hard. Escaping the Red Wolf was unheard of. The sharp, blue light of the mag-rod lit the alley. Spinner yelped loudly before falling in an awkward ball on the corner, he swatted his smoking jeans for a moment before looking up.
Reno bounced the rod on his shoulder, a malicious smile on his mouth. "Hallo." The word came out as a sneer.
The brick wall cut into Spinner's back, he was shaking.
The tip of the rod found its way under Spinner's chin, tiling his head up. "Cat gothcher tongue?" Reno asked.
"W-wolf.. I- just, god man, I didn't have shit ta do wit Vixen, I- I, please, don't kill me."
The point of the mag-rod moved away. "You know, I wasn't thinking about that 'till you said something." Once again Reno flipped the switch on. Before he could pull his arm around, someone grabbed it. With a snarl, Reno spun to face off with whoever dared interrupt him.
Part of him wasn't shocked to see Viper standing there. "Fer the love a Shiva, Wolf, lettem go already." Viper placated. "He ain't worth kill'n an' ya know it."
Spitting backwards, causing Spinner to flinch, Reno snarled again. "So, jus' cause he's not worth killing that makes him worth living?"
"From da way yous act'n, I'd swear ya think dat bein an asshole's gonna bring'er back." Viper's mohawk bobbed slightly while he motioned. "It ain't. You follow'n me?" They stood off with the ex-Pirate still shaking behind Reno. "Fuck'it. Ya died then too, this jus' ain't you."
A retort fell short on Reno's lips while Viper turned around to walk away. Looking at his shoes, Reno blinked a few times. "Get the fuck out of my sight Spinner." Reno ordered. Spinner wasted no time fleeing, and Reno wasted no time watching him. He sped up a bit to catch Viper. "Viper?" It was painfully obvious that he was being ignored. Reno resorted to pulling the other person around. "Viper?"
Viper smiled, showing shockingly good teeth, even after all this time, at Reno. "You gonna stop acting like a shit?"
Reno looked at the ground, it hit him how much younger he really was then Viper. "I, fuck. I don't know-" He looked up again.
Shaking his head, Viper put his big arm around Reno's shoulder. "Yer gonna be alright, man. That's what friends is for right?"
"Speaking of, where's Tex?" Reno swiveled his head but didn't catch the cowboy.
"Savin' us a place at da bar. He said I'd be nicer than him to ya."
Viper and Reno made it to the bar with little fuss. Though they had run into two police officers, nothing came of it. His chief confusion of the past few months: the sparse encounters with the local PD. Before, even the mere idea of Red Wolf would send them after anything with a red bandanna. Now, however, they literally were ignoring him.
Viper shook his head and pushed the door open. "This is gett'n screwy man. What's up wit da suits and da cops?"
Reno shrugged, still not in much of a mood to talk. He felt like he should apologize to Viper but he didn't really know how to. Tex was waiting, nodding up at the other Fallen members as he lit a cigarette. Strange, after all this time it was now that Reno noticed that even though the flame on the lighter was high enough to do so, Tex's cowboy hat didn't even have anything resembling a burn mark on it. "So Wolf, what the fuck's a'matter now?" He asked from around the cigarette.
Reno lit one of his own, taking an exaggerated drag off the paper. He closed his eyes and held the smoke for a while before letting it out through his nose. "Mar-" He started, fighting the lump in his throat. "She's worse then they thought. There's nothing I can do, 'an-" Reno looked at the table. ""An I have to do something, but I don't have the gil. The operation that the doc keeps talking about is upwards of five thousand gil with an insurance plan. Add months in the hospital, that's a really big bill…"
Tex shared a look with Viper. The two had known it had to involve Mariah, in honesty, both were amazed she'd lived as long as she had. Though they hadn't spoken much to her, they liked her because she meant so much to Reno. Tex felt badly, that it seemed like the kid was loosing everything he cared about all at once. Though, it seemed that all Mariah needed was enough money for a good hospital.
Money was tight, but now that the Pirates were gone, maybe now would be a good time to talk about expanding? The Don wasn't exactly popular, and Reno was already a gang lord in his own right. Fallen had proved itself by beating out a Wutain mafia group for new territory, it had proven itself repeatedly to be a strong faction. All they needed was a good move, and Reno was the perfect person to put it into motion. Tex opened his mouth to mention the idea when the bar fell silent.
Reno, Viper and Tex started and blinked at each other. It was as if someone had turned the volume off. The young men followed the eye lines of the other bar-goers to the door. Reno stiffened. "Those'er the guys…"
"Yer shittin me." Tex muttered back, just as lowly. His voice held a fatalistic note, as though he knew who they were.
In the doorway were the two dark haired men. It was easy now, to tell the two apart. While they were both tall and lean with dark hair, the Wutain was slightly shorter, his hair and deep blue suit looked a bit neater. The other had the look of a slum born, Midgar boy, with his scruffy hair and lazy expression. While the Midgar man looked less threatening, neither of them looked like they were in the mood for anything but compliance. Their eyes scanned the bar; people were ducking, trying to keep out of their attention. One word swirled around the dirty place: Turks.
The Midgar man's mouth turned in a humorless smile when his eyes settled on the Fallen members. He then nodded to the Wutain, who returned the gesture before turning on heel and leaving without a word. The door slid closed silently, even the usually squeaky hinges were still. With another dismissive glance around, the Midgar man started forward.
People began busying themselves, huddling closer to the tables. He ignored them. The only people obviously paying attention to him were the Fallen members. All three young men looked at his left leg, he had a limp. It was slight, something that seemed as though it wouldn't hinder him if he truly chose to move with speed. It wasn't enough to make them confidant as he stood before them, mako-enhanced brown eyes moving over Viper then Tex before settling on Reno. "You are the Red Wolf? Correct?"
Stunned for a moment, Reno lit another cigarette to cover his nervousness. When he spoke he was calm. "Depends on who's ask'n, suit."
"I am." The man responded without emotion.
This irked Reno, who responded just as dismissively. "Good for you then."
The man almost smiled again, pulling a pack of cigarettes of his own from the neat suit and placing one in his mouth. "I would like to speak with you in private." He commented, flipping out a silver zippo and lighting the smoke.
"Don't even think about it Wolf." Tex started, "Ya-"
The dark haired man cut him off with a sharp turn of the head. "I advise you to keep your mouth shut. It doesn't do to have AWOL SOLDIER recruits running around. Don't make yourself a problem." His voice was a light tenor, but for some reason it held a tangible impact to it. Silence followed his statement, and he allowed it to settle, smoking as though he hadn't just threatened Tex.
Reno could feel the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. "Private huh?"
The man nodded.
"An if I say no, then what?"
The man finished his cigarette, smudging it out on the floor. "I would prefer that you come with me willingly." While there wasn't anything threatening in his tone, there was some implied necessity that Reno do as he was told.
Reno stood, earning gasps from the bar. "Alright, suit. I'll bite."
The dark man chuckled without humor. "Follow me then."