I Tried
Chapter 19- The Price of Money

Finally, she was asleep. Reno sat up. He could feel scratches down his shoulder blades, when he popped his back he could feel at least one of them open up and bleed. "Bitch," he growled, standing up unsteadily, "you need ta cut your damn nails." He fumbled around in the dark for a light switch on the table, flicking it on with another disgusted snarl. He had thirty minutes before he had to get back in the bed with her, and he felt that would be the hardest part of the evening.

He found his clothes without much effort, the whole time trying to control a lurching stomach. He dressed quickly, picking the keycard up off the TV and dialing Reeve's number from the PHS they gave him. He didn't recognize his own voice when he spoke again, "I'm ready."

Reeve apparently didn't notice anything amiss with Reno's voice, or he didn't care. "Right, you have twenty five minutes till the cameras have to reset."

Reno didn't respond to the other man, simply hanging up the phone. He had talked to Reeve for over an hour before this party. It didn't do much to make Reno feel better and none of it helped now as he pushed open the door to the private hallway that connected Serina's room to her husband's. Reno crouched against Serina's door, watching the shadows move in the light that was still on from Mr. Collider's room.

"It take's getting used to" -Reeve had explained- "but you do get used to it. I don't like doing any of it myself, but I'm good at it."

So now that was the one requirement? Being good at it? To answer him, Reeve laughed. "I've made friends with people, been invited to dinner in their homes, and traveled with them, all to turn them over to ShinRa in a few months time. I'm a spy, it's my job. Being nice, brave, or easy going doesn't mean anything in regards to a job."

It was then that Reno finally asked. "Why don't you all just leave, if you hate it so much?"

The answer was so simple it chilled him. Reeve laughed shaking his head. "Kid, I'm not brave enough to do anything like that."

Reno stopped asking things after that. Reeve hadn't said that he wasn't smart enough, he hadn't mentioned any physically limitations. He had said, quite frankly, that he was afraid not to do just as he was told. So he was afraid, but of what? What could scare the Turks into doing what they did? Reno had the feeling that was what Tseng was referring to when he told Reno that he "had no idea". Reno still did not want to know.

He had hoped that Mr. Collider would be asleep or at least nearly so, but the shadows continued to move. What was the man doing in there? Reno pressed his ear against the door. Sounds coming from the bedroom in front of him caused Reno to halt, blinking. There was a girl in there, not very old from the sound of things. Her whimpering was cut off with the unmistakable sound of a hand hitting skin. First, he drew his gun. Then Reno used the keycard, cracking the door a bit more so he could get an idea of what was going on.

Reno clenched his free fist tightly. Two girls were with Mr. Collider, not one, and these weren't girls Reno's age. The two children in that room looked barely twelve. Reno knew that this happened, he knew it, but he'd never had to sit and see it before. The girls were scrambling to get dressed in clothing that didn't hide much anyway. Dark mascara stains covered the smaller one's cheeks, a red mark covered one side of her face, through it all she had deep green eyes.

"So let your daughter be a whore later then?"

Reno didn't notice that his fingernails had broken the skin of his palm. He didn't even feel the blood near his fingernails. He was angry- furious- at that moment; he knew he was going to enjoy killing this man. Reno closed his eyes, waiting to hear the girls leave. He heard the main door open, he heard their pimp, and then the door slammed shut. Reno had to take a steadying breath, urging himself to stop shaking.

Mr. Collider was smoking a cigar, plush covers pulled up to his undefined chest. He about dropped the cigar in surprise. "What the hell?"

Reno didn't speak, he was too angry to form words. He simply pulled the gun out of his pants and attached the silencer.

Mr. Collider's eyes widened, he sat up more on the bed. "What do you want?" He pointed to his pants, on the chair at the other side of the room. "All my money is in there, just take it! Don't kill me!"

Reno, still silent, pulled the hammer back on the weapon.

Never once did the man ask about his wife. Never once, even though it was obvious that Reno had come from her room. "Who ever paid you I'll double it! Triple it!"

It was all Reno could do not to beat the man to death instead of simply shoot him. Without saying a word, he fired three rounds. Mr. Collider's body stopped jerking after the second bullet hit him. Reno lowered the weapon and fell against the door. They were just little girls, just children. Who could do that to a little child? Reno pinched the bridge of his nose. God, Suzanna… It wouldn't happen, ever. Not to his little girl.

Reno noticed the time and swallowed, he'd have to hurry it up. He locked the way between Serina's room and Mr Collider's from his side, then, he left through the front door, slipping down to the other room and entering Serina's room through her front door. He locked that door, along with the one that he had left her room from. Falling against it he realized he was still shaking.

There wasn't any more time to think. The sun would be coming up soon, and he needed to get back in bed before Serina woke up.

It wasn't early enough for Reno the next morning. Serina was thankfully half asleep, though she had asked for his phone number. He flipped the card out as he was told to, with a fake smile and clenched teeth. He left quickly before any ideas could form in the new widow's mind. Two morning waiters watched him get into the elevator; Reno ignored the thumbs up he received. The other employees took little notice of him as he left the hotel. Reno lit a cigarette the moment he opened the front door.

He smoked the rest of the pack and half of Reeve's in-between the hotel and the hospital. Once at the hospital, Reno made the rest of the payments with money that Reeve had given him. He was given very little information on Mariah, but he did notice that dressed in a suit he was given much better service. The nurse directed Reno to the wing, stating that because he was family it would be alright to see her. The nurse also mentioned that Padre had been with her most of the night.

Reno started down the hall to Mariah's room, then halted. Looking down at himself Reno balled his fists again. He could still smell Serina on him, there was no way he could go talk to Padre and Mariah like this. He pivoted on heel, startling a nurse before storming back down the stairs to Reeve's waiting car.

Reno stared at the other man as he pushed the passenger door open. There was a fresh pack of smokes on the seat, Reno's brand, not Reeve's. He got in, packing the pack with five hard thumps and ripping it open. Reno looked out the window, feeling sicker by the moment. He knew the over dose of nicotine wasn't helping that sick feeling, but he couldn't think of anything else to do. When Reeve stopped the car, Reno threw the door open with an angry grunt. He wasn't going to say goodbye, he wasn't going to look at Reeve. He didn't want to ever see him again, and he didn't give a shit about the past at that moment. Then, Reeve finally spoke, forcing Reno to look at him.

"Be seeing you Reno." He wasn't smiling, Reeve's face was unreadable. Before Reno could respond, the door closed and the black car pulled away.

Something about the way Reeve had said that haunted Reno. He'd think about it later, at the moment he wanted to feel clean.

Viper and Tex were in his room when he got there, watching Suzanna. They blinked at him, shocked at the rumpled suit and tie. The two then looked at each other as if looking for something to say.

"Yer, ah, notta…" Viper started. Reno's eyes narrowed, he knew the end of that sentence, "a Turk?" is what Viper was asking.

"No- jus-" Reno waved a hand. "Thanks fer watching Trigg. I need a damn shower."

Tex walked over, looking down at Reno. "You sure you're aiirght Wolf?"

Reno looked away, into a corner of the room. "I'm fine, jus- meet me later ta'night. I'm gonna have ta talk to you guys. I jus, I really, really need a shower. Alright?"

He didn't watch his friends as they left the room. Reno crossed to look down at his daughter, who was in-between wanting to nap and wanting to play. She was getting to the point now where she could stand and throw things out of her crib, making any adult fetch it. From the state of the room, she had enjoyed the game with Tex and Viper. Suzanna laughed when she saw him, reaching up to be held.

Reno felt his stomach lurch again. "Daddy needs a shower, baby. I'll play with you in a minute." He grabbed his jeans from on top of his bed and quickly went into his bathroom. He left the door open, so he could hear Suzanna, though Reno knew she couldn't get out of the crib, he didn't take too many chances.

He sat his clothes on the sink and looked at his face in the mirror. No wonder Tex and Viper had been so worried about him, he looked like hell. Once again, Reno's stomach lurched up; this time he couldn't push it back down. He hadn't eaten that night, and the brandy didn't taste nearly as good coming up as it had going down. Reno hacked a few more times, spitting into the sink. His arms shook and he held the sink in a death grip on either edge. Ragged, gasping breaths hissed out between his teeth, for a moment he felt that he was going to be sick again, but the feeling passed. The eyes that looked back at him when Reno looked into the mirror were haunted like he knew they would be. After rinsing the sink out, Reno got into his shower.

Reno held his head against his shower wall. The hot water felt good on his body, but inside he still felt used. The whole night replayed in his mind like some morbid screen play. It was humiliating. The thought of that woman touching him made his skin crawl. He had never thrown up after killing anyone before, but this time was different. Maybe it wasn't the killing part that bothered him so much. It's over with, he kept telling himself.

The only thing that haunted Reno as much as sleeping with Serina Collider was her husband. He knew what had gone on, he had lived it. The idea that Suzanna would ever have to do that made him want to vomit all over again. What could he do here? Nothing, there was literally nothing that he could do to protect his daughter. He was sixteen, where they were that was middle aged for a gang banger. He rammed his fist into the tile in frustration. A choked, dry, sob escaped his mouth.

Suzanna started to cry in the bedroom. Reno turned off the water and went back to life, clean but not really feeling it. He picked his daughter up and hugged her. "I love you so much, Trigger." The little girl cooed in her father's arms. She was turning into a daddy's girl.

Sitting on the bed Reno's mind was racing, then, he suddenly remembered something- Zangan. He had offered Reno a place to live on numerous occasions. Out in the country, by where Tifa lived, where some of the houses didn't even have locks on the doors. Reno smiled, good luck to the Turks finding him there. He had enough money now to go, even enough to leave half of the leftover funds with Padre for Mariah. Before, maybe he would have felt guilty for running, but now he had Suzanna to think of, and she couldn't grow up like he had.

Laying down, Reno brushed some hair from her head. "You are never going to have to do anything like this, I promise, baby." He smiled at her while she curled up to his chest, falling asleep. Yawning himself, Reno felt sleep take over. All that he had to do was get rested, he'd talk to Tex and Viper tonight, and then, as soon as he knew Mariah was going to be alright, Reno and Trigger would take off. No more Midgar, no more ShinRa and never any Turks.

Suzanna woke him a few hours later. After cleaning her up and feeding her, Reno took his daughter down the stairs. He was reading, watching the little girl play on the floor when Padre walked back in. Reno swallowed; the look on the priest's face wasn't good. "Is Mar alright?"

"They don't know yet…" Padre started and then shook his head. "What did you do to get that money Reno?"

Reno sat the book down and stepped around his daughter. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"That's too bad; I want to talk about it." The priest hissed, keeping his voice low as to not bother the child. "You don't know what you-"

"No, please." Reno pinched his nose "Please drop it." He suddenly was feeling the urge to go to the bar. He needed a drink or some weed or anything to cause his head to stop throbbing.

Padre didn't like the way Reno looked. The young man looked as if something had been sucked out of him. Reno seemed dry, defeated. They stood staring at each other. Padre was losing patience. "I can't drop it, Reno. I know that Turk- don't look at me like that I know he's a Turk. I can't believe you would stoop that low, ShinRa?" He took a deep, angry breath. "I should have seen this coming."

"Should have seen this coming?" It was an effort to keep from shouting. "Oh, yeah, I forgot, I'm just the worthless slum trash you guys keep around is that it? Not a big leap from gang banger to ShinRa whore now is it?" Reno shouldered past the priest, striding to the door.

"Getting wasted is not going to fix this, Reno." The priest put his hand on Reno's shoulder.

"Talking to you isn't going to fix anything either. If you have some other magical option I'd love to hear it." Reno's hand was already on the door

They stood silently for a while. Reno pulled the door open and then Padre spoke. "If you think for one minute that you will pollute this place with their presence-"

Reno whirled about, "How could I pollute anything more then I already have? I am the fucking Red Plague!" Reno put his hand on the door again, "there's money on the table, as soon as I can, I'm getting out of your hair, so don't worry about it." Leaving Padre in a stunned silence, Reno slammed the door.

The Red Wolf stormed into the bar with a look that plainly said "Get me trashed".

Viper and Tex waved him over, lifting a beer bottle to show they'd already taken care of starting his "trashed" requirement for the evening. They watched him sit down and chug the bottle. After Reno slammed the bottle down, he raised his hand for a second.

"Wolf, wha happened? You ain't acted this pissy since Vixen died." Viper asked, his eyes going round as he watched the young man chug a second bottle in less time then he had drained the first. He lifted a big hand to Reno's. "Take it easy, yer gonna make yerself sick."

Reno jerked his hand back and growled. "I already did that once today, no harm in doing it again. I don't need you two to fucking baby me."

"Fer fuck's sake, Wolf. We are your friends. What the hell is wrong?" Tex wasn't thrilled with the situation. "Every time we try ta help ya you are a prick do you know that? It takes fer ever to jus bring you around but we always do so let's skip the drama this time?"

Reno lowered the beer bottle and blinked. He knew that Tex was right. Slumping over on the table, the red head rubbed his temples. "I'm sorry, I just, it's a lot to deal with. I'm afraid they aren't going to let me say no."

"Whaddya mean? I thought it was just one favor." Viper looked up at the door and then back down.

With fear that he didn't bother to mask, Reno shook his head. "I did too, but that's why I'm taking Trigg and we are-" The looks on Viper and Tex's faces caused Reno to halt. It wasn't until he stopped talking that Reno noticed the bar was silent. Risking a glance over his shoulder, Reno saw Scarlet and Reeve moving swiftly through the bar.

Scarlet was back in her Turk blue. "I think that you should come with us." She stated mildly, eyes hidden by dark sunglasses.

"I think that you should both go fuck yourselves. I did what you wanted me to. Leave me the hell alone." Reno snapped. The fear that had been on his face gone.

Reeve sighed. "You don't have a choice in the matter, kid. Don't make this harder then it has to be, you're coming willingly or not." He looked at Viper and Tex as the two younger men started to rise. "Unless you two are growing, I'd sit back down."

Blinking, Tex and Viper sat slowly.

Taking the moment of distraction, Reno suddenly jumped to his feet, grabbed the back of the chair he had been sitting in and swung. Reeve and Scarlet both leapt back unharmed, but Reno used that as a cushion for his own running away.

Scarlet and Reeve both made the same sound of agitation and rushed after Reno, leaving Viper and Tex wide eyed at the table. Despite his limp, Reeve was fast. Before Reno made it to the bar, the dark haired Turk reached out and spun him around, casting Reno's back against the wooden bar.

Reno aimed a punch at the Turk's waist, but Reeve blocked swiftly. He then countered by striking Reno in the chest with the palm of his hand. The force of the blow was enough to make Reno's back crack the wood of the bar behind him.

Winded and obviously outclassed Reno felt that playing fair was no longer an option. He reached for the nearest glass- a shot of everclear- and splashed the contents into the Turk's face.

Reeve's sunglasses protected his eyes, however the strong alcohol stung his nose. He cussed backing away and giving Reno time to move. The red head jumped over the bar and snatched the bottle of everclear from behind it. He broke it over the bar, covering both the old wooden bar top and Reeve with the bottle's flammable contents. He used his lighter to set the bar on fire.

The ice spell shocked Reno, he'd never seen one used outside of a fighting ring. He fell backwards, looking at the now angry and slightly chilly Reeve. The fire was gone, and the whole floor was a wet, slick mess. Turning to run, Reno came face to face with Scarlet.

"Don't make us do this." She placated. "Just give up, Reno."

"I've never hit a woman Scarlet, don't make me start."

Reeve jumped over the bar as well, cornering Reno. The two Turks attacked at once. Reno took out his nightstick, making the attempt to flip on to the bar. He slipped on the wet wood, falling hard on his shoulder on the customer side of the bar. Before he gained his feet again, he felt a sharp pain up his arm, forcing him to let the nightstick go. Gaining his knees Reno clasped his left hand over his right shoulder. He could feel the bullet inside his shoulder blade. He cast a worried glance up at the Turks, then bolted out the front door.

"Scarlet, get him around the block." Reeve ordered. He watched her go before turning to the bartender. "Bill ShinRa." He then turned and rushed out the back door.

Reno never ran so hard in his life, but Scarlet was actually gaining. His back and chest burned, Reeve had cracked his ribs in one hit. He couldn't out fight them, especially with himself being unarmed, literally. The bullet rubbed against his shoulder bone as he ran, causing draining pain all the way down his right arm. Cutting down another alley he almost ran straight into the largest human he had ever seen. Fortunately for Reno, the bald man looked shocked to see him, he even allowed Reno to spin step around him and continue down the alley.

"Rude!" Scarlet was starting to get winded, she was now very agitated. "What the hell, he was right there!" She halted panting.

The bald man looked down at her and then back down the alley. His mouth drew into a thin, nearly confused line. He shook his head at Scarlet and started after the red head.

Reno wasn't risking glances behind him. He had time to skid to a halt as Tseng fell silently in front of him like a dark panther. Without warning the Wutain sprung forward. Reno tucked his right arm behind his back, it was useless in a fight at the moment, and he met Tseng's kick with a block from his lower leg. Tseng was relentless, it was all Reno could do to block the onslaught, let alone fight back. Tseng eventually succeeded in grasping Reno's wounded shoulder. As he yelped in pain the Wutain tried to slam Reno into a wall. Instead, Reno ran up the wall and flipped over the Turk, forcing Tseng to release him. By the time Reno broke free, both Scarlet and the bald Turk had caught up to him.

Reno backed away, he lifted his left forefinger between his eyes, it looked almost as if he was going to pinch the bridge of his nose again. Instead he left his hand vertical, the crook of his thumb on the tip of his nose. He then closed his eyes and started a short chant. Reno then jerked the left had to his right shoulder, and brought the arm quickly to his left side. Three pyramids surrounded the Turks. Reno smirked weakly before he took off again down the alley.

Reeve growled, limping up to the three pyramids. "Wonderful." He muttered darkly.

"Apparently, Suzi taught him more then we gave her credit for." Scarlet's response held some heat.

Reeve shook his head and punched Scarlet lightly in the arm. The pyramid gave way. He then smacked Tseng and Rude on the back of their heads. His PHS went off before he had a chance to yell at them. Sharing a look of dread with Scarlet, Reeve put the PHS to his ear. "Yes sir. No sir. I don't-." He made a disgusted face and looked at the PHS before putting it back in his pocket. "Great, Rufus is involved now."

Reno sat on a fire escape, panting. He'd used the pyramid trick before, but he'd never been this winded simply running away from someone. He felt lucky they didn't want him dead. Reno looked down at the bullet wound in his shoulder. He would need to get it looked at, though he could at least feel his fingers and the bleeding had slowed.

It was at that moment Reno realized that the Turks were no longer following him. Odd, that they would just give up, he thought. Reno tried to think about what he would do if he were Reeve, given what they already knew-

Reno started, leaping to his feet and running home for all he was worth.

They knew about his daughter.