This story won't end here. It's leading into something. See, Becca and myself have an RP going. And since I'm notorious for writing things that appear in our RP, I'm going to sort of blend a little bit of the original RP with this story. I won't get every detail right, won't hit every detail, but I'll try and get close. By the way, I wrote this chapter the same day I wrote last chapter. So therefore, R&R and know that this ain't the end, by far. Enjoy!

People were screaming, running. Terrified, many of them were looking for places to go despite the fact that the terrorists had overrun the building. Rude stepped out of the hospital room, his eyes taking the scene in. Blood and broken glass was everywhere, bodies already scattered around the floor as the men waded through the sea of frightened ShinRa employees. Rude somehow knew what they were coming for. He knew that Reno was the target and he also knew that he wasn't about to let the younger man get hurt. He stepped away from the room and toward the men, gun raised quickly as he fired a shot at one of them. The bullet hit the man in the chest, causing him to yelp and fall flat to the floor.

Tasha frowned as she knelt next to the infirmary admission table with Elena. "What the hell are we going to do?"

"I'm going to help Rude. You're going to go to the room with Reno so you won't get hurt."

"But I can help!"

"This isn't your job. You need to protect him, since he's already come this far. Reno's hurt, you need to make sure he doesn't get hurt any more than he already is. He's stupid, and he'll get up out of bed to try and help us when he has no business walking right now." She shoved Tasha toward the row of rooms. "Go on and stay with him. He would probably enjoy company right now anyway."

Tasha stared at her as if she was insane, yet started toward the rooms. Bullets were whizzing every which way around her, ricocheting off of the metallic walls and shattering glass. She shielded her face more than once from the sharp, clear substance as the shards rained down onto the floor. Tasha was lost in the hail of gunfire, couldn't help but look around at what was happening. Rude and Elena were exchanging fire with the criminals as more and more of them poured in. "Oh god… We're all gonna fuckin' die." She snatched the door open, only to run head-first into Reno. "What the hell are you doing out of bed? You need to lie back down!"

"Not while they're in danger. Get your ass in the room and don't come out." He tried to snatch Tasha into the room, but she set her weight against the floor and snatched against him. "Come on, don't be so god damn stubborn!"

"Nah uh! If you don't stay protected, I don't stay protected. I don't want you getting hurt after I hauled your ass all the way around and kept you safe."

"Oh, you know you love me. It's the charm, ain't it?" Glass shattered to the side as a bullet barely missed them. It rained down on top of their heads as they shielded their eyes from it. "Come on, get your ass in the room. Don't argue with me, woman!" He pulled at her again, and that time she didn't protest. Reno had to look twice to see why. Almost immediately, he spotted one reason. Her eyes had gone wide with fear as blood seeped out of her abdomen from a gaping bullet wound. His eyes went wide as he spotted blood, but then noticed that her entire body was being littered with bullets. Snatching her out of the way, he bit his bottom lip as he felt a white-hot chunk of metal slam into his leg. He tried his best to ignore it as he slammed the door shut, sitting down on the floor with Tasha safely in the room.

"I-…"

"What the hell? I thought they were after me, not you."

"Th-they're after both of us, probably."

"Cuz you helped me escape?" He got quiet as he ran his fingers softly through her hair. Blood was seeping out of the corners of her mouth and from her nose as she stared up at him. "Man, if I'd have known this was going to happen, I'd have never left with you. Damnit…"

"It don't matter now. Things happen cuz they happen, Reno. I dunno what's going to happen now, but I just want you to try and make it. I mean, wouldn't my effort have gone to waste if you didn't try to live for me?" She managed a small smile through the pain, though she felt her entire body start to go numb. "What happens now? I'm scared." Tears started to well in her eyes, coming to a breaking point and dripping down her face.

"Don't be scared. Ain't nothin' gonna happen. Everything's going to be okay."

"Is this what death feels like?"

"Death? What are you talkin' about? You ain't dyin'. You can't die yet, cuz you ain't kissed me. And you know the princess has to kiss the charming prince… Or was it the other way around?"

Tasha smiled up at him weakly as she held his hand. Reno didn't even notice the gunfire halting as he stared down into her face. "I'm so scared. Please don't leave me. Don't let me go alone, what if it's so black and cold that I forget everyone and everything? What if I can't get back to you?"

Reno had to swallow hard as he held her head in his lap. "You won't forget me. No one can forget me, I'm too much of a smartass. I piss people off too much for 'em to forget me. 'Sides, we ain't even gone on a date yet. I haven't gotten the chance to give you chocolates or do something stupid so that you could be mad at me for a week. Ain't that what women love to do?"

"I couldn't stay mad at you for a week. Hold me…"

The red-head was surprised as he felt his heart starting to hurt. He continued to stroke his fingers through her hair, holding her very close so as to keep her warm. "All women get pissed off sometime or another. It's the little things that make you love someone."

"Like the way a person doesn't think very highly of themselves? Or maybe the way a man doesn't know how valuable he is until someone around him tells him he is?" Her eyes met his again as she slowly lost the smile on her face. "Cuz you're valuable to me. Did you know that? You mean something to me. I wish I could've told you sooner." She gave a dry sob, squeezing her eyes shut tightly as her mind started to cloud over. "Don't forget me, please? Live for me."

"O-okay…" The thought of living scared him. Then again, the thought of her dying scared him more. He squeezed her tightly as he listened to her ragged breaths. The seconds that passed seemed like hours as they cried against each other, tears mixing with blood and dripping down onto the floor. Reno could've sworn eternity passed before he felt her heart get weaker and heard her breathing stop. Her head rocked back limply against him as he held her, hoping that it was all a dream. "I'll wake up… Please god, let me wake up…" He sat there listening to his own breathing, feeling her warm hands, trying to make her wake up.

The door slowly cracked open, a displeased Rude peeking in. He saw the pool of blood around the two, his brows furrowing as he knew what had happened. It was over before it had began.

Three weeks later…

The swirling brink of reality closed in upon the young man as he stared at the ceiling. So empty, so alone. Things didn't matter much anymore. When you fell hard, you fell hard, and he hadn't been able to get up off of his knees. The drugs seemed to sharpen the pain, bring it into light so that he could examine it more. Love hurt like hell, and he'd been cut to pieces by the death. Well, literally and figuratively. His arms were amass with cuts, scars, bandages. Rude had taken his knives away countless times, but it didn't matter. He could always find more. They were readily available to a Turk, and he knew that he might lose that title as well if everything kept spiraling downward. As hard as he tried, he couldn't make the room be still. The aches in his body went deeper than physical. He felt raw internally; his heart ached to feel her touch again, just to see her smile again. Every minute of his existence was pure pain.

"Reno, god damnit… This can't keep going on." Reno shifted as he heard the deep voice of his best friend and brother. "How in the fuck do you do this to yourself? Holy shit, you're going to bleed to death if you don't stop this." Strong arms lifted him from the bed, holding him close as the knife was taken out of his hand for the third time that day. "How do you keep finding them?" Reno recalled himself trying to speak, but he only heard a loud buzz in the back of his brain. "You high bastard, you need to stop punishing yourself."

I know I do. What does it matter anymore? No one cares as much as she did, and now I know. Why couldn't she have told me from the start? I coulda protected her. I coulda got her out of there sooner. I'm so damn stupid.

"What are you going to do, Reno? You can't keep going like this." He recalled himself being carried to the bathroom. The cold chill of air hit his skin as Rude slowly undressed him, the sound of running water coming somewhere in the background. "You're going to kill yourself one day, and then where will we be? You ain't done shit but drink and take drugs since the funeral. Move on, you stupid bastard." He could sense the irritation in his friend's voice, despite the fact that he was as high as a cloud. Reno knew Rude was worried for him, and that was what made Reno feel even worse.

Fuckin' worthless… Can't take care of anyone. Friends, family, brother, sister. Rude and Elena are worried about how pathetic I'm being. They don't see how badly I wanna go. Just let me go, please let me go.

Reno flinched when hot water hit his skin as he was lowered down in the tub. Blood tainted the water pink as the older man washed Reno's arms and legs, even the portion of his stomach that had cuts across it. "These are going to scar. What are you going to do in a couple of years?"

Maybe I won't be alive in a couple of years. Maybe I can starve myself to death. They can't make me eat, can they?

"I swear to god, if you don't straighten up and sober up, I'm gonna stick your ass in a drug rehab center. Damnit, we don't wanna lose you. Why do you punish yourself?"

Once again, Reno didn't answer intelligibly. His mind was buzzing with his own thoughts, though. I punish myself because I don't deserve to live a normal life. No one wants me but you guys, only cuz you see how bad I wish to let go. You pity me, and I don't need pity. Why can't you just let me go?

"We love you, Reno, why can't you just let go of the pain and move on? Kid, I'm so scared for you. I know it hurts, but you gotta get through this. I dunno what we'd do without you." The washcloth was soft against the red-head's raw and bloody skin, washing away the crusted over blood that had dried against each of the older cuts. "Damnit, some of 'em are infected…"

So that's why I felt so odd this morning. Infected? Nice. I hear if you get too high of a fever you might never wake up. Let's try that.

"We've been talkin' with Rufus. You're going to come with us to the mountains. We're going to try and get you cleaned up. The materia's been destroyed. You ain't got shit to worry about now, because the drug lord is supposedly moving on. We never got him, you know? But it don't matter, as long as he stays away from you." Rude pulled Reno against his chest, trying to wash one of the larger, sheered open cuts along his stomach. "Were you trying to gut yourself?"

He didn't say anything else as he was finishing the bath up. When the water felt ice cold, Rude picked Reno up from the water, the droplets rolling off of his skin and falling back into the bathtub as he wrapped a towel around him. He tossed him over his shoulder after he dried his hair the best he could, carrying him back into the main bedroom to lay him down on the bed. The soft sheets comforted the raw heat of his body as Rude tended to the cuts one by one, applying medicine to make them heal faster and bandaging them.

Reno felt the high going away, depression settling over him once again. He heard himself mumble something that he couldn't quite understand.

"The resort is in the mountains. You ain't gonna have any sake and sure as hell ain't gonna have any drugs. We're still going to be on duty in case anything happens, but it's what you would call a vacation. We can't have you running around endangering our lives and your own. You gotta buck up again, kiddo. Become the leader again. We'll help you through this, Ren."

Reno sighed as he closed his eyes, feeling his head nod a little. As Rude started to put clean clothes on him, he dropped off into a fitful sleep, unaware of what would probably happen in his future.