#16

"You should have let him finish, Tseng. I would have enjoyed seeing Heidegger's face at having some 'street-rat' calling him names like that."

Tseng laughed softly as he swiped his key card through the slot, then pressed the button for the floor of their offices. "And if I had, I would have spent the next week with Reno cleaning up the labs or something equally horrific."

Veld nodded. "I know." The older man looked over at where Reno was watching the city outside through the glass. "And I wouldn't do that to two of my best men."

Reno looked up quickly. "Sir..."

"I'll make sure the two that failed are fine, but Rufus is going to need new bodyguards no matter what I do. I want you two to be his primary ones. He seemed to like you enough when you brought him back. And considering Rufus, that's a bit of a miracle."

"You want us to babysit? I'm sorry, sir, but I didn't sign up for this to babysit some spoiled brat of a kid."

"Reno!"

Veld laughed, holding up a hand to tell Tseng that it was okay. "You'll get normal assignments as we need you, but I think you two would do best as his primary bodyguards. I'm serious when I say that it's very rare for Rufus to take to people enough to be clinging to them like he was to you, Reno. He might actually listen to you."

"You're giving a choice assignment to a rookie and his slightly-less-than-rookie mentor when there are teams that deserve it much more from their record with the Turks. Veld, why do I get the feeling you're not telling us something?"

Their commander looked over at Tseng. "We think the men who kidnapped Rufus are part of a group that the company has been getting threats from. Right now, making sure that Rufus is with men I trust is more important than giving the job to someone with the team longer."

Tseng nodded. "And what would make you trust an exile from Wutai and his devil of a partner?"

"Because if you two are traitors, I can't trust anyone."

Reno turned back to the view of the city. "You're trusting us on instinct?" Veld nodded. "Think you're crazy for that, but I guess I should be flattered that you'd trust me all things considered."

"You're insubordinate, brash, rude, obnoxious, and a dozen other adjectives that I wouldn't find very flattering if they were directed at me, but you're one of the most loyal men I've ever met." A hand reached over and lightly touched the shoulder that was bandaged under Reno's suit jacket. The shoulder where a bullet grazed the skin when he didn't get out of the way fast enough because he was too busy untying Rufus. "Besides, I know I can trust Tseng. I've known him for four years, and he's given me no reason to doubt him. If he trusts you enough to watch his back fresh out of training, so can I."