Uncovered

by drakonlily

Ever feel like you don't mean much, like no one would care if you dropped off the face of the planet? Advent Children's Reno. Sad and reflecting to the Watchman's Uncovered. Gift for TPirate

Uncovered

Something made him get up and start walking. He didn't really know what it was, however. Five years ago he'd have to be ready to jump at a moment's notice. Five years ago, hell, now he could just sleep all day and no one would notice.

Not like he'd ever been noticed much anyway. Oh, he was good looking, loud, a bit of an ass, of course people SAW him. But there really wasn't much there to notice.

Lying in bedrooms is easy
It's not like it's five years ago

Snowing again. It'd just started up, out of the blue, like most of his life had. Even though it was out of place, he smiled, watching his feet dangle over the edge of the broken building and the snow meet the rubble below him.

The smile faded then, the front that he was so good at putting up. He leaned forward, pressing the heels of his hands over his blue eyes, long fingers touching red hair. "Stupid, Reno. You're fucking stupid."

Lately you're over my body
'Cause that's just the place that I want you to be

He'd left the Turks after the whole geostigma was over. More like he was pushed out. They didn't really need him to begin with. He came with Rude. Rude they needed. The person no one saw and everyone noticed. Tall, silent, Reno's other half - polar opposite.

ShinRa had been desperate. Reno wanted a job. He wanted to be needed, he tried. It wasn't really his fault that he was so…"stupid."

Look at the pictures you've gotten
They're like signals from oncoming cars
We're covered and caked from the last time
I know it sounds weird, we collect it in jars

Moving forward. Everything was zooming by, even now they were removing the rubble, picking things up, making big changes. The Heroes of the Planet and ShinRa. That twinge came to his stomach again, that longing to be a part of something. He'd never really been there anyway.

He looked at his PHS then, flipping through the numbers. How long had it been since it rang? With a growl he pitched it from the building, not bothering to look at it. He'd only bother them. Not like they needed him for anything. Not like anyone ever took notice.

When he'd been back from injury, not so much as a "welcome back, Reno." Maybe it was childish. He'd admit that he was, if someone asked. But would it kill someone to just…

…miss him a little bit?

'Cause that's just the place that I wannabe
Oh can't you see it's the life I don't need
Please don't make this thing up for me
(The way that I wannabe)
Oh can't you see it's the life I don't need
Please don't make this thing up for me

Why did this weather always make him so melancholy? He was supposed to be the clown. Of course, what good was a clown when no one cared? He got to his feet then, shaking the snow out of his hair and navigated down the rubble.

There was a time he'd been a decent cat burglar. Nothing to write home about, this was Reno, after all. But he'd managed because Rude was there. Rude was the pyrotechnic guy, Rude was the brains. He'd been a sidekick.

When ShinRa wanted Rude, his loyalties came first and he made them hire Reno. At first, Reno'd been overwhelmed, overjoyed. Nice cars, nice suits, a chance to really just put his foot up someone's ass and be something.

Till the end of the world came about and he realized he really wasn't anything. Not next to people like Rude and Tseng. Not next to Vincent Valentine or Cloud Strife.

Driving in style with a smile on
I wish the light could turn red on me now
The day's been so damn hard already
So buckle me in on the highway of sin
'Cause that's just the way that I wannabe

He watched his boots as he walked, hands jammed into his pockets. Cold weather never bothered him. Not much bothered him, not till lately. Tifa's orphanage loomed ahead of him then. The bar, the kids, people gravitated to her because she was stable, strong, people needed her.

He'd talked to her a few times, mostly because she was too nice to tell him to stuff it. She wanted to though, and Reno'd backed off. He was stupid, but he wasn't a total jackass. Most of the time.

It hadn't just been her Reno wanted to see. He had a soft spot for kids. No idea where it came from, he'd never dealt with them in the past. Something about them just made him feel better. Like they weren't washed up yet.

A little broken, a little rough in places. But they always seemed to bounce back to regain life. Reno envied that in them. And then he felt badly for envying children.

Oh can't you see it's the life I don't need
Please don't make this thing up for me
(The way that I wannabe)
Oh can't you see it's the life I don't need
Please don't make this thing up for me
Cause that's just the way

She didn't seem shocked to see him when Tifa opened the door. She never asked any questions. At first she used to watch him like a hawk when he was near the children. But of course, Reno couldn't blame her for that.

He wasn't a threat to her, but children for all their strength were still quite delicate.

The kids were used to him by now, the boys all got up from where they were playing, rushed over and begged for a story, maybe for a snowball fight, things that adults never had time to do, even Tifa, with a baby on her hip.

He'd indulged them with the snowball fight. The fake smile faded to a real one somewhere before his fingers went numb in his gloves. Before the youngest child's lips turned blue. It was then he'd ushered them back inside where Tifa took over.

Cause that's just the way
All uncovered
That's just the way
Driving in style with a smile on
I wish the light could turn red on me now
The day's been so damn hard already
So buckle me in on the highway of sin

Reno watched her make cocoa, after demanding hot showers from the children. They obeyed with sour expressions, too old for mothering, but being mothered anyway. She still balanced the baby on her hip; Reno knew that it wasn't hers.

Walking over he took the child from her. Tifa blinked for a moment before a muttered "thank you" left her mouth. The boys thundered down the steps again, taking the cocoa cups and making way back to the living room to continue the game they'd started before the snowball fight.

Still holding the baby, Reno watched Tifa watching the children.

"We don't need any more heroes, Reno."

"Never thought you did."

'Cause that's just the way that I wannabe (wannabe)
Cause that's just the way
That's just the way
All uncovered
That's just the way

Merry Christmas, TPirate.
Love Drakon

"Uncovered" by The Watchmen
Reno and Tifa © Squarenix