Chapter Six: Bad Guys Caught Your Tongue?
I was going to turn and say something to Cid. Maybe an apology for the time I met him, maybe an effort to explain that it wasn't my idea to threaten him like I did. I doubted he'd believe that I was just as harassed and bullied as he was. Simply because ShinRa used Hojo to threaten me behind closed doors didn't make the threat less real.
However, the moment I turned to say something, Cid's door burst open with enough force to pitch the inner screen door to the ground. Cid and I leapt to our feet, chairs clattering to the ground. But I think what came through the door shocked us both.
Reno.
He slumped for a moment in the doorframe, just long enough for us to get a clear look at him. He'd been worked over, that much was more then obvious, and he'd clearly used Materia to cure his leg; he still seemed to favor it as if it'd been broken. That aside, his clothes looked like hell, the front of him was totally drenched with blood, I could even make out where it had matted his already red hair.
Before anything could be said he was beside me, if Cid thought I was fast, he'd yet to see Reno get moving. I swear there are chocobos slower than that kid. He drew my weapon and leveled it at Cid, bright eyes narrowed into slits.
I knew that look and backed away from him. I hoped Cid knew it too. If I bumped Reno, he'd kill Cid right there. And for some damned reason, I really didn't want to see Cid die with a bullet in-between his eyes.
It'd been years since I'd seen Reno be this desperate and frightened. Why the hell would he go after Cid though? Reno was too lazy to go after someone unless Tseng or I –sometimes both- put a foot up his ass. "Reno…" I started slowly. "Cid's been with me the whole time. The whole time, I swear."
Why was Reno being so quiet?
"What the fuck is wrong with you fucking damned Turks!" Cid yelled, though he didn't move. At least he seemed to have some sense of self preservation.
Reno's eyes narrowed again. But he didn't pull the trigger and if he hadn't been swayed, he'd have killed Cid. I sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Re.. come on, what happened?"
He was alone, and that worried me. Rude, Elena and Reno were closer than family. They simply wouldn't have just left him…
…unless…
"Oh fuck." I muttered, spinning Reno to face me. "Where are Rude and Lany?"
Reno glared over his shoulder at Cid again, halting any movement from the pilot. He then made a walking motion with his fingers over his palm, flipping both his hands over he pointed to me then pointed to Cid and mimed being shot in the head.
So Rude and Elena were meeting up with me and he wanted to shoot Cid in the head for good measure? All without saying one word? That cinched it, I already knew what happened to him, but I didn't want to believe it without proof. Fuck, Reno wasn't even 21, he was just a kid. "Open your mouth, Re."
But Cid did not sit silently by while I made to inspect Reno's mouth. Maybe he had figured it all out in his head, maybe not, but he knew something...
"I knew that there was some kind of gods damned improvement in you, kid," Cid said, whilst smirking, still as a statue save his mouth. I wanted to slap him. This wasn't a gods damned joke!
Reno spun, making to have a real round at Cid; I grabbed him and hauled backwards. While it would have been fitting to have Reno work him over, I didn't trust Reno not to let up, and given his current situation?
We both fell back into the coffee table; Reno flung my arm down and snarled at Cid.
"Gods fucking dammit Cid, someone's cut his fucking tongue out." I snapped.
