Disclaimer: Don't own them, never will…damnit.

A/N: After reading a couple of reviews, I decided to redo the story and add flashbacks. Hopefully it adds to the story and doesn't make it drag on or make it boring. The flashbacks are in italics and unless otherwise marked, it's Reno doing the overall narration of the story.

Please review and let me know if my revision was worth it or not! I'll hand out cookies to those that do! Thanks!

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'It's pretty simple Elena.' Reno started 'But to fully understand it, you'll have to hear a bit of history. Sit down and get comfy and I'll explain it. Lucky for you I'm in the story-telling mood.' Thinking about hearing Reno tell a serious story seemed too outrageous and abnormal. But, she was curious to hear the history between Tseng and Rufus, so she sat down next to him and waited for him to start.

'I heard the story from Rude since I wasn't around at the time. Maybe it would be better if he said it.' Rude shook his head. 'You like telling stories a lot more then I do. You tell it. If you screw something up I'll explain it.' Reno nodded his head and began.

'When Tseng started working for the Turks he was 18, which means that Rufus was around 10 or so. One of Tseng's jobs was to guard the President and his family, like it is for us now. About a year went by and the President told Rufus and his mother he wanted to take a vacation. Since they needed a guard, Tseng went with them. The President ended up ordering Rude to go for some reason too, which was odd to Tseng and Rude at the time, but it made sense later on. Rude didn't complain though about having to go, I mean who would complain about going on a trip to Costa Del Sol?'

'Anyway, Rufus was excited to go on a trip since he never had a vacation before so him and his mother were sitting together talking about all the fun stuff they'd be able to do and see.'

'When we get there, can we go to the beach mom? I heard that Costa has the clearest water ever and it would be fun to play around in it.' His mother couldn't help but look at him at laugh happily with him.

'Yes Rufus, we'll go to the beach. I'll teach you how to snorkel too, bet you didn't know your mother could do that now did you?'

'You can snorkel? That would be so much fun to do! I heard that there are lots of nice colorful fish down there that would be fun to look at.' Rufus was getting more excited about the trip as the minutes went on. 'Can we go around the town too mom?'

'Yes dear, wherever you want to go.'

'can we have lunch by the beach?'

'Yes dear, we can have lunch on the beach.'

'Can I stay up past my bedtime?'

Although she was happy to see him this excited, it was starting to get tiresome. 'Rufus! Yes already! We'll do all those things and more, plus you can stay up past your bedtime. Ok sweetie?'

'Ok Mom. Hey Mom?' 'Yes dear?' 'What else is there to do in Costa anyway?'

She was about to reply to him and tell him about all the things that they have there for kids to do when his father cut her off.

'His old man was sitting across from them, Tseng was sitting beside Rufus and his mom while Rude was beside the dear old former President. Daddy dearest was getting upset at the two for talking I guess so he told them to shut up.'

Rude coughed and shook his head 'Not quite Reno. If it would have been just a shut up, it might not have been that bad. He ended up yelling at his wife to shut the hell up and that she was better seen and not heard. Then he told her that she better keep the kid quiet while in Costa or he'd personally make sure that the kid would stay quiet.'

'Both of you just shut the hell up. You keep you mouth shut woman, I've always said you're better seen, not heard. And you better keep that damn kid quiet Elizabeth if you value his well-being. If that brat says so much as one damn word without me telling him to while in my presence, I'll make sure he can't speak for a week! Do you understand me?'

Rufus' mother looked down at her son and held him closer. She then turned her head to stare absently at the ground moving beneath them. Rufus was staring at his father, at a loss as to what just occured. His father noticed Rufus didn't know what to make of what happened, so he decided to elaborate.

"You didn't really think it was a vacation my dear boy did you? Heh, give me one good reason to treat you to an actual vacation? I have some dinner meetings to attend and what better way to make a good impression then to bring my lovely caring family with me. You better act like the perfect son boy or I'll make sure you'll regret it.'

'Rufus had a look on his face like his world just ended. He just stared at his old man. You could tell he was scared to ask anything, but it looked like he was hoping that his old man would let him to at least something fun.'

'But sir? Could I have at least one morning, or an afternoon at the beach? Even one hour? Please sir? I won't ask you for anything again, just one hour on the beach would be fun.'

Instead of a reply, he was met with a stiff backhand across the face and his father's laughter. Tears welled up in Rufus' eyes as he fell back on the seat and leaned on his mother.

'You little brat, your weren't brought along to have "fun", you were brought along to work. There's no "vacation time" on this 'vacation'. You are here to show to the world that I am a "family man" and that's it. Your job while you're here is to make everyone see us as a perfect happy family. You're going to dinner parties and you better not speak unless you are spoken to. Get used to it boy, you are not my son so that you can "have
fun".'

Elena couldn't help but widen her eyes and gasp slightly. 'Poor Rufus! And he was looking forward to his first ever vacation too.' Rude nodded his head and continued 'We didn't know what to do. What made it worse was that we know there was nothing that we could do. I mean, we know he's the President, but you shouldn't hit a kid, especially one asking to have just a few hours on a beach. We felt bad for Rufus, but it's not like we could do anything about it so we thought it best to leave it at that.

You could tell Rufus was trying so hard to keep himself from crying. His father hit him pretty hard. If he would have cried, his father would have hit him again anyway. He just sat back for the rest of the ride, leaning on his mother, looking out the window.' Rude then turned his head to Reno, 'Alright, you can continue now.'

'As I was sayin', like Rude said, they felt bad for what his dad said and did to Rufus but they couldn't do anything about it. When they landed Tseng stayed a bit behind the President to talk to Rufus.


'Rufus?' Sad blue eyes looked up to the one that spoke his name. 'Yes Tseng?' 'If you would like sir, I would be happy to take you to the beach. I could also arrange to show you the rest of the town as well. There is not much to this town, other then its beaches, but I could show you everything that would be of interest to you.'

'You would...do that for me?' The surprise and suspicion was easy to detect in Rufus' voice. 'Of course I would. I will have some spare time while we're here and I'm certain you will as well.' Rufus still wasn't sure what to make of that offer. 'Thank you for the offer Tseng. While I would love to see the beach and the city, I doubt that my old man will let me out of his sight, nor let you go for that matter.'

'Rufus-sama, don't worry about it. I will find a way to have us both leave the hotel and take you to the beach. I'll ask Rude to do some of the guard duties, it can be arranged. Would you like for me to show you around?'

'Yes Tseng I would. If you can arrange it, I would like to go with you.' Looking past Tseng his gaze fell on his mother. 'Can mom come too?' Seeing the hope in Rufus' eyes made it harder to tell him no. 'I'm sorry sir, I'd be able to sneak you out, but it would be very hard to sneak both you and your mother.'

His mother walked up to them, putting an arm around Rufus. 'Don't worry about me sweetie, you go with Tseng and have fun. He'll take you around town and he'll be sure to keep you safe alright? It would be too difficult to have me join the two of you.' With a sigh Rufus agreed. She kissed the top of his head then looked to Tseng. 'I trust you to take good care of him.' Tseng bowed his head to her. 'Yes Ma'am, I promise he'll be safe with me.'

'Somehow, he managed to find a way around Rufus' old man and got him to the beach. Don't ask me what they did at the beach since Rude wasn't there, so he obviously can't say. Anyway, his father never found out about it. Tseng managed to sneak Rufus out a couple more times during the week and showed him the rest of Costa. Granted, there's not much to see in Costa, but to Rufus I'm sure it was a lot. On their way home, Rufus was sitting with him mom, like he did on the way there, but he didn't say a word the whole way home. The things he wanted to talk about he couldn't since his old man didn't know a thing about them and if he did find out, all hell would break loose. His father and mother kept glaring at each other the whole trip home though. Like everyone used to say, when that man glared at you, you knew you were in for it.'

'Did anything happen between his parents during the trip? Maybe his father did find out about Rufus leaving and blamed it on his mother?'

'His parents never got along they were always arguing about something. I doubt he found out, I guess it's possible, but I doubt it. Anyway, when they landed, his old man turned to Rufus and his mother and told them to stay out of his way and out of his sight until he needed them again. He then turned to Rufus and told him that he expected him at his office on Monday morning at 8 am. Rufus nodded his head at his old man and made his way to his room with his mom.'

'Did anyone hear what went on in his father's office when he visited him that Monday?'

'Quit interrupting Elena, you're ruining my train of thought.' Elena tried to suppress a giggle but couldn't help but laugh. 'What's so funny?' 'Just you Reno, having an actual train of thought. It seems odd to hear the words "train of thought" coming from you.' Reno didn't really see the humor in the comment. Shrugging his shoulders he replied 'Well, the story stops here I guess. It's your fault that you'll be missing the rest of the story. Pity too, I was getting to the good part.' With his ever-present smirk still on his face, he leaned back on the couch, hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

'Oh you're not fair! Geez Reno you started the story, now finish it before Tseng comes out here and you don't have the chance.'

'Tseng? Come out here? I think his ass is crazy glued to that seat. He won't be coming out anytime soon. Maybe I should take a smoke break and finish this story later.' 'No you don't Reno! Sit down and finish this story!' With a sigh she finished 'I'm just curious as to how Tseng ended up so attached to Rufus. It was sweet of him to do the beach thing, but that doesn't make it so that they're practically attached at the hip at the moment.'

With a smirk, he placed a finger over Elena's lips, 'Are you through yet? That's the part I'm up to now please, hush and let me continue. Are you going to be quiet?' Elena sighed and nodded her head yes so Reno backed away from Elena and continued.