Chapter 9
Reno swung at Rude with all the strength he could put behind the blow. Rude simply dodged to the side only to have Reno spin around and almost land a blow to his neck.
Reno had been recovering quickly since being back at their apartment. Rude had agreed to spar with him on the condition that he stop if he hurt at all. Reno agreed after his usually smart ass comments. Yet, Rude had still been surprised at just how fast Reno was. Never one for brute strength, Reno won his fights by speed and thought out tactics. Rude could still see the bruises and angry looking scars on Reno's skin but he didn't let it hinder him in the least. He was one tough son of a bitch.
At last Reno called a halt, he was more winded than in pain but the semi healed ribs promised to change that if he wasn't careful. Reno collapsed onto the couch that they had pushed to the side to make room for their little match. Rude sat down beside him.
Neither had been talking much since Rude had brought home the news about having to take out Yazoo. For some reason neither of them could pack it away into the mental black box that most of the memories or knowledge about their job went into. It didn't sit well with either of them and they both new it.
"You gonna take the mission?" Rude broke the silence and cut straight to the point.
Reno snorted and looked at the ground with a kind of pained sneer. "As if we have a choice in our missions?"
Rude just grunted. He had never met a Turk that had refused a mission. He had seen Turks 'quit', he had never seen them again once they left the building. No one left the Turks unless it was in a body bag.
Reno stood. " Rude? Has Tseng or Rufus asked about me?"
Rude shook his head. "Not since my last bodyguard shift with Rufus. Why?"
"If they ask, do your vague silent thing okay?" Reno lit a cigarette and took a long drag. He opened his mouth to add something when someone was pounded on their door.
Reno cursed and answered it. Elena was standing there looking frantic. "Reno! Where's Rude? Oh there you are! I'm so glad you guys are okay. Half the building is dead, they're saying it was some type of weird gas or something but"
"Okay, 'Lena just calm down and go slow alright? What the hell are you talking about?" Reno crushed his cigarette in an ashtray and Elena followed him into the room. Rude got up to hear what she said.
Elena took a deep breath then spoke slowly and deliberately as if Reno was a child. "More than half the other Turks are dead. They were all killed in their apartments in the past 24 hours. Tseng says there was some kind of nerve gas…… No one knows for sure what happened yet." She sat down heavily on a chair near the kitchen table.
"Damn. This is absolutely fucked. Who did we lose?" Reno was leaning on the counter on his elbows, one hand in his hair.
Rude sat down in the chair opposite Elena. The blonde didn't answer right away. Then in a shaky voice listed the names of their comrades.
"Rosalind, Cyren, Andrews, Rafe, Samantha, Durman and King"
Rude lowered his eyes to the ground. That was more than half of the Turks, that only left one besides himself, Reno, Elena and Tseng. Reno was cursing and muttering to himself. Rude knew how he felt. The Turks were close, not in the ways that most people would expect 'close' to mean but it was real nonetheless. Every Turk could look into the eyes of another Turk and instead of the cold killer see the person who had cried themselves to sleep after their first murder, the person who didn't have many mirrors because they hated to see themselves. Turks were not merely assassins. They didn't have the luxury to be just a machine that took out targets, no. Turks were used by Shinra in many ways to understand the flow of humanity and its trends and ongoings. Turks were in the thick of life because it affected Shinra and they were the ones who dealt with it. Being able to lose your humanity was not an option for a Turk, it was a tool just as necessary as a main weapon. And no Turk ever went unarmed.
Which only made it hurt all the more…………………………
This had been done in THEIR building. It was Turk turf and it had been severely violated. Rude was struggling to compose himself. He wanted to hit something. Reno lit another cigarette. He had a look on his face that Rude had rarely seen before, he let his hair fall over his face and his eyes had an open yet tight look to them. He was holding everything inside too.
Elena stood abruptly. "Tseng wants us all at Healin Lodge. Reno, are you okay to go?" Rude stole a glance at his partner. Reno was pale and tense but Rude knew he had just been sparing with him. He was more than okay to go. There was a flicker of something in Reno's eyes and he leaned heavily against the counter.
"I don't know, I haven't been feeling so great. I can probably make it there though if Rude doesn't mind giving me a hand." Reno said, his voice seemed shaky and unsure but also a little cocky and edgy like they were used to.
Elena patted his shoulder. "Okay, let me know if there's anything I can do to help you out. I hope you get better soon."
Reno just waved her off and Rude shut the door behind her. He turned to Reno who had jumped back up onto the counter and was sitting with a thoughtful look.
"What was that?" asked Rude.
Reno gave him an innocent look. Rude snorted. "The hurt act you put on for Elena. You are more than capable of making it to Healin"
Reno gave Rude one of his devil-may-care smiles. "Rufus is gonna wait until I'm better before he makes us take out Yazoo right? Well, I plan on making that mission wait for awhile. Rude do you think that Shinra had anything to do with this?"
Rude said nothing at first. Putting his thoughts into words made it all real. "I think its suspicious how someone could have put nerve gas in this place without one of us noticing. I also think its suspicious that most of the lower ranks were killed."
He didn't want to follow where he knew Reno's train of thought was going. Shinra had done a lot of bad shit. He wouldn't ignore that. But it had also been his sanctuary as well as his hell.
Reno just kind of stared into space for a bit then hopped off the counter and went towards his bedroom. "Guess we better start packing. You mind babying me some more?"
Rude already had a bag ready. He kept one packed for spur of the moment missions where he actually had time to take spare clothes and such. "Its only your third day home. You are technically not supposed to have been out of bed for more than a few hours. Should I just tranquilize you again?"
Rude heard a growl from the dark cave that was Reno's room. "Don't even think about it" his partner shot. Rude allowed himself a small smile. At least some things never changed.
Reno emerged with a messy duffel bag and began opening cabinets. After a few tries he gave up. "We need to stop to get some serious booze. We're gonna need it."
Rude just grabbed to car keys. He took Reno's bag from him and slung it over his shoulder with his own. He opened the door and Reno leaned into him and reached an arm up and around his shoulders as if he needed help walking. Rude helped steady him on their way to the parking garage. There were a few Shinra investigators on the scene but no local police. Not that there was much of them anyway.
"Rude! Reno! Just a minute!"
Rude stopped at the sound of Tseng's voice and Reno cursed under his breath. Tseng walked up to them briskly. "Headed to Healing Lodge?" he asked.
Rude nodded. Reno kept his head down and was doing a very good job of looking miserable without it being intentional.
"How are you Reno?" Tseng looked him over with sharp eyes. He had always been the best at seeing through Reno's bullshit. Rude knew that besides himself Tseng knew Reno better than anyone. Reno raised his head a little and then gave Tseng a thumbs up sign.
Tseng's expression went from its usual calm impenetrable mask to something of a concerned annoyance. "I should know better than to ask. Either way, you are confined to the suite assigned you and Rude. I want you in bed and resting."
Rude nodded stiffly and Reno gave a mockingly sloppy salute and they headed to their car, leaving Tseng to talk with one of the investigators.
When they were on the road and safely out of anyone's line of sight Reno leaned back in his seat and sighed. "Well, so far so good. Hey, waddaya say we hit 7th Heaven for some booze. Tifa's got that shit I like."
Rude just nodded and headed there. When they pulled up Rude noticed Reno examining the outside of the building discreetly. He had dropped the sickly act now that they were away from fellow Shinra employees. It was the middle of the day so the bar didn't have many patrons when they entered. Tifa was washing glasses behind the bar and gave a huge smile when she saw them come in.
"Reno! Rude! You must be feeling better. How are you both doing?" Tifa stopped her washing and came to lean on the counter across from where Reno had pulled up a barstool. Rude just stood.
"Good as can be expected with someone murdering Turks left and right" quipped Reno. Tifa gave him a questioning look.
"What happened?"
"Someone got half the Turks with some type of gas. No one knows. Anyway, we're headed up to Healin Lodge. Came by for a little something to take the edge off" Reno was talking low enough so that no one else in the bar could hear. Yet he still managed to look laid back like he didn't have a care in the world.
"I've got just the thing. Cloud brought it in from his last delivery. Problem is, its strong stuff, wouldn't really want to serve it to anyone but you. I don't need people passed out left and right in my bar." Tifa pulled out a bottle of liquid made of dark black glass with a silver label. Reno grinned.
"That's the stuff doll. Where is blondie anyways? And Yazoo?"
Tifa shrugged. "Off killing things. Guess the monsters have been acting up along the roads. Vincent came by and talked them into it. They left last night."
Reno nodded as if he had already lost interest. He handed Tifa a handful of gil for the bottle. "They're crazy I think, leaving you here all alone. Cloud's gonna have you stolen from under his nose if he's not careful."
Tifa rolled her eyes. "Maybe that's what it will take for him to not be so oblivious" she said only half jokingly.
"Well hey if you ever need someone to help you out-" Reno's statement was cut off by Tifa throwing a rag at his head which he caught.
Rude took it from him and handed it back to Tifa. "We must be going."
Tifa just smiled at him and made a shooing motion with her hands towards Reno. "Yes, please take him out of here. And I am sorry about your comrades."
Rude inclined his head towards her in acknowledgment. Reno took the bottle in hand and blew Tifa a kiss. "See ya!" he called as they went out the door.
A/N Yes I know that most people would expect Reno at least to go kind of ballistic at his fellow Turks being killed, but...what do you do when it might be Shinra who killed them?
Also, Sin the Dark Priestess was kind enough to give me a clue that the funny looking creatures that Yazoo doesnt want to kill are Shadow CREEPERS not leapers as I have thought. So this will be changed. Whenever I am blessed with the energy. TY
