Disclaimer: Same as always, don't own them, never will…damn

A/N: The italics are their thoughts. Maybe I love angst too much but I picture Rufus as a guy that is the way he is because he's had a hard life emotionally. Which means that he has a lot of angst. :-)

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When Tseng picked up his cell phone, the last thing he expected to hear was the slightly quivering voice of a young man he hadn't heard from in a while.

'Administrative research, Tseng speaking.'

'Hi Tseng. Are you busy right now? I can call back later if you are. I don't want to bother you.'

'I'm not busy at the moment. Your father has sent me orders for a new mission though. I will be leaving Monday morning and will be away for a few days. Why Rufus? Is everything alright where you are?'

Phone in hand, Rufus sat staring blankly at the floor, idly noticing that there was a small stain on it. 'Rufus? Rufus are you still there? Did something happen in Junon that I should be aware of?'

Rufus shook his head no, then mentally slapped himself for doing that. It's not like Tseng was in the same room as him, he was several hundred miles away in his office in Midgar. He unconvincingly replied 'No Tseng, everything is fine.'

Tseng didn't believe a word that he was saying.

'Are you sure Rufus? If there's anything at all bothering you, you know you can always talk to me. How are things going at school? I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to call you to congratulate you on your achievement. Skipping a grade in school is something to be proud of.'

'Thank you Tseng. You're the first person to congratulate me. My old man didn't even call or send a message or do anything to acknowledge that or my existence in general. Not that I should expect something like that from him although, it would have been nice. It doesn't matter either way. I'm sorry to have disturbed you Tseng. good luck on your mission. Come back in one piece.'

Now Tseng knew something wasn't right. Rufus didn't call just to call anymore. When his father shipped him off to Junon, either he or Rufus would call the other at least once a week, if for no other reason then to touch base and say hi. Lately though, it seemed like Tseng was the one doing the calling more then Rufus did and when Rufus and Tseng talked, Rufus didn't have much to say. Before, he would tell Tseng what he did at the school he was attending in Junon or he talked about the friend he had made and what they did the night before. Now, it was more like a one-sided conversation, one that involved Tseng asking questions about Rufus and his life, if he was enjoying Junon, how Dark Nation was doing; anything that was possible to ask, Tseng asked it. Rufus usually answered Tseng's questions with either a 'yeah', 'nah' or an 'it's alright'. To have Rufus be the one to call and ask if he had the time to talk was something that Tseng took to understand that something was wrong.

'I will sir, don't worry about that. Like I always say to you, don't worry about my safety, I will be fine. It's only a little reconnaissance mission, nothing too dangerous.' Tseng decided to get to the point, obviously asking Rufus to start the conversation about what was bothering him was going nowhere.

'You didn't call me to ask me if I was going on a mission Rufus. What is bothering you? Don't say nothing is, because I know there is. Don't make me take my weekend off to go see you.' He meant that last comment as a small joke; if Rufus needed someone there with him, he wouldn't hesitate for a second.

'Nothing really Tseng. I just wanted to ask you if you would promise me something.'

Tseng was getting a little confused at this point. 'Promise you something? What do you want me to promise you? You know there isn't anything that you would ask for that, if I could do for you, I would refuse. So I am at a loss as to why you want me to promise you something.'

'Please Tseng, just tell me you promise.' Rufus seemed a bit aggravated at Tseng's unwillingness to make a promise to him and sounded equally as worried about something. Tseng didn't want to push Rufus at the moment. Whatever was bothering him, Tseng would only find out after he made his promise.

'Irrelevant as a promise may be between us, yes Rufus, I promise. Now please inform me about the promise I just made.' Sighing with relief, Rufus explained what his promise was.

'Well, I just wanted you to promise me that if something ever happens to me and I'm not around to take care of Dark Nation, that you would take care of her.'

Take care of Dark Nation? Now I'm very confused. Admittedly, Tseng didn't know what to reply to that. 'Rufus, nothing is going to happen to you. You're healthy; no one that would even think of going after you knows where you live in Junon. I don't have to make a promise to watch over Dark Nation, you're always going to be with her. Having me take care of Dark Nation would be pointless with you there all the time with her.'

'People don't stick around forever Tseng. Now you know what your promise is and you have to stick to it. You can't back down now. I just needed to know that someone will be here for her when I'm gone.'

Tseng was starting to get a little worried at this point. Why is he asking me to watch her when he's gone? Maybe he's planning a trip somewhere? That's it, a trip and he can't bring her.

'Are you planning a trip Rufus? A vacation might do you good. I mean, most 16 year olds only worry about school, they don't have the extra burden of being Vice-President of a company.'

'That's just an empty title Tseng and you know it. The correct title for me should be "the paper signing poster boy of Shinra." That's all I am Tseng, someone who signs papers all day for things that aren't important at all and who has to make appearances at high-class events to impress the people there and talk about how great Shinra Inc. is. I'm not much more then that. Even my old man agrees with me. Imagine that, for once we both agree on something and it's something that involves me. Who would have thought huh?'

This was a day of firsts. The first time in a long time that Rufus called him and the first time that him and his father agreed on something. However, it was an agreement that Tseng wholeheartedly disagreed with.

'Rufus you are a lot more then a paper signing poster boy.' He heard a faint laugh on the other side.

'Funny, that's all I see. When I look in the mirror in the morning, it's all I see. When I go to the office, when the security guard looks at me, when the receptionist looks at me, hell, when my secretary looks at me, that's all any of them see. All I am to the world is a poster boy. A poster boy with a rich daddy. I'm tired of that Tseng. I'm tired of people looking at me as if everything I do represents the company. I'm tired of my father visiting me here whenever he feels like "letting off steam". Ever have those days when you think that life shouldn't be this damn hard and complicated? Didn't you ever have a day when you wanted to do something about it and make it all go away?'