Chapter 13

Another Turks chapter. In my original(before editing) I had no Turks sequences. Funny how time affects how you look at certain parts of your stories.

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"They won't be here." Reno's tone was full of frustration as he kicked the church doors open, not even bothering to raise his gun in anticipation of an attack. He was correct in his assumption, the church floor was empty. It was the first time he'd walked into this church and found it uninhibited. Normally Aeris or Jerad would be here to greet him, even after he'd broken up with her.

"Maybe not, but we could find some clues as to where they are now." Tseng strolled past Reno, his eyes slowly drifted around the church. It looked frozen in time. The glass window was still shattered, and the broken shards of glass floated helplessly in the fountain's murky water. A heavy dust had settled on the church seats, surprisingly somewhat heavier than before. Tseng continued forward until he got to the altar, where he slowly got onto one knee.

"Forgive me for this desecration." His voice was loud, he was certainly not trying to hide anything from his two shocked companions. Rude and Reno looked at each other and then back at Tseng.

"Since when were you religious?" Reno asked incredulously.

"Since I realised how much shit I'll be in if a God does exist." Tseng stood up, brushing himself off and turning to the stairs. "They may be hiding up there."

"Unlikely." Reno replied, shrugging. "But you're the boss."

With that, he and Rude ascended the stairs. Rude had his gun out, ready to fire. Reno was still positive nobody was here, and refused to act otherwise. He got to the top of the stairs first, wrinkling his nose as the smell of death slithered around him. He walked along the floorboards and poked one of the soldiers' bodies with his foot.

"Didn't clear up after themselves." He grumbled.

"Should we clean this up?" Rude asked.

"That's not our job." Reno said, shaking his head and briefly checking all the rooms. He got to Aeris's and entered. Seeing the bloodstains on her floor and the bodies of two soldiers on the floor made him cringe. This was the last room where anyone should be killed. He growled and pulled his hand back to knock something off the table to ease his frustration, but then noticed it was a picture of Aeris when she was younger. He couldn't help but stare, feeling a sense of nostalgia, and love. He sighed and took the picture in his hand, still gazing at it sadly.

"Reno? Anything in here?" Rude's gruff voice interrupted Reno's recollection and caused his face to turn back to it's now normal arrogant expression. 

"No. I told you there's nothing here." He turned to Rude. "Check every room once more, just in case."

Rude nodded and disappeared from the doorway. Reno laid the picture down face-first on the table, opening the back of the frame and gently easing the picture from inside. He opened his blue suit a little and slipped the picture into the side pocket. It had been a long time since he'd felt so sentimental, and he hoped it would be the last time. He exited the room just as Rude was coming out of the room farthest from him.

"They're all clear. No clues I can see anywhere." Rude reported.

"Me either." Reno nodded and headed back down the stairs, Rude behind him. Tseng was kneeling down by the floors, examining them with a dry smile on his face. Hearing Reno and Rude approaching, he carefully plucked a yellow one out of the soil and took a small pin out of his pocket. He had once used it to hold his name badge to his navy blue suit, but Rufus had decided there was no need for that. Tseng took the pin and pierced the stem of the flower with it, attaching the pin carefully to his suit so that the flower was now stuck to the right hand side of his chest, like a symbol. Reno and Rude glanced at each other curiously again before stopping in front of their leader.

"Well?" Tseng asked, slight impatience in his voice.

"We searched every room thoroughly but there were no people or clues." From Reno's tone one would almost expect him to add 'I told you so' to the end of his sentence, but he remained quiet, a small smile on his face. Tseng seemed indifferent to it all.

"I see. Well, then we will have to do what we do best." He turned to the church doors and headed towards the exit. "interrogate."

"Tseng…" Reno said, not moving.

"What?" Replied Tseng icily.

"Forget it…" Reno thought better of his question as he and Rude followed Tseng outside, to begin their interrogation on the people of sector five. Reno prayed they were not too stubborn, for their own sakes. Tseng was one of the most ruthless men Reno knew, he and Rude were not far behind anymore. He had felt uneasy about the methods they'd employed for quite some time, but gradually those feelings had subsided. At first it scared him a little, but now he paid little attention to such things. At first he had made a distinction between his life and his job… now his life was his job. Tseng knocked on the first door, and Reno unconsciously felt for the picture of a young Aeris…