Due to sexual content this chapter has been lightly edited. If you want the unedited version e-mail me.
When Reno and Johnny finally reached the airport the Gelnika II was ready to go. They boarded the plane to find Elena and Rude waiting for them.
"Buckle up. We're ready to fly." The co-pilot said.
Johnny sat down across from Rude. Reno sat beside Johnny and they buckled their seatbelts.
"Where in the hell were you two?" Elena demanded, buckling herself in.
"Presidential orders." Reno replied with a grin.
Rude's eyebrows raised slightly. He tightened his seatbelt then looked up at Johnny briefly before looking over at Reno. Reno nodded in reply to Rude's look. Elena was confused.
"What?" She blinked.
"Never mind. It's a guy thing." Reno replied.
Elena raised one eyebrow as Reno slung his arm casually around Johnny's shoulders, fingers lightly tracing over his collarbone. She looked at Rude but he looked away. Elena's other eyebrow raised, the tips of Rude's ears were red. Rude was…blushing? She looked back at Reno. He was grinning stupidly at her and still touching Johnny's collarbone. The brunette actually seemed to enjoy the contact. In fact she swore he leaned closer to Reno. The plane started moving down the runway.
"Oh gross!" Elena suddenly burst out. "Don't tell me you and the rookie had a go at it in the men's toilet!"
Reno laughed and Johnny blushed. Rude just pretended that his comrades didn't exist at the moment. The pilot blushed too and the Gelnika II started ascending into the sky.
"I can assure you my dear girl that I have not screwed Johnny."
Johnny smiled shyly. He was still blushing.
"Then why is he blushing?"
"Because you used such crude language to voice your greatest fantasy." Reno replied.
"Oh right. It's my fantasy to watch you hump the rookie." Elena retorted, tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Glad you admit it." The redhead said with a smug grin.
Elena made an angry grunt noise and leaned forward, intent on punching that smug grin off Reno's face. Both she and Reno were surprised when Johnny leaned forward and blocked Elena's fist with his arm. Rude decided that this was a good time for his friends to exist again and he set one hand on Elena's shoulder, pulling her back into her seat.
"Reno, lay off. Elena, cool it. Johnny, nice save." He said simply before looking out the window again.
"Yeah, thanks…" Reno purred, leaning over and giving Johnny a kiss/lick on the ear.
"You're welcome." Johnny replied softly.
Elena was horrified, "Oh god. There's two Renos…one with red hair and one with brown."
Reno laughed again, "Johnny is not like me. He's not a sexual deviant. He also doesn't smoke…plus he's shy and polite. Does that sound like me?"
"I stand corrected." Elena muttered.
Reno chuckled evilly and went back to tracing Johnny's collarbone. Rude continued to stare out the window as the plane levelled off. It was a ten hour flight to Wutai.
Before he told Reno to 'take care' of Johnny Rufus had gotten the redhead to move him back into his wheelchair. The President called in his bodyguards again and they wheeled him over to his paperwork desk. The blonde immediately immersed himself in his work. If he hadn't thoughts of Reno 'taking care' of Johnny somewhere in the hall would invade his mind and he certainly didn't want his bodyguards 'servicing' him if he got horny again. He was halfway through reading a proposal to build a city outside Midgar when there was a knock at the door.
"Enter." He said.
Rufus looked up and frowned as a nervous squad leader entered the room.
"What is it?" The blonde asked.
The man took a deep breath and saluted, "Squad Leader Dorian Red."
"Yes, yes. What is it?"
"Sir, we made a terrible mistake. Tseng, sir, he is…alive."
Rufus froze and slowly looked up from the proposal, "What?"
One of Rufus' bodyguard visibly shuddered at how dark and cold the blonde's tone had gotten.
Dorian Red fidgeted nervously, "Reeve's robot found Tseng severely wounded in the Temple. When Reeve's first Cait Sith was crushed by the Temple we assumed Tseng met with the same fate."
"But…"
"But today we received a letter from a man in Mideel. A bunch of fishermen saw the Temple shrink and steered closer to the island for a better look. They spotted Tseng lying on the beach and brought him to Mideel. They cared for him but he was hurt badly and fell into a coma. They searched for ID but it must've fallen out of Tseng's jacket and his mobile was smashed. A few days ago Tseng awoke from his coma and was able to tell them who he was so they contacted us."
"So…you let me think that my best Turks was dead…when he was not. A very talented young man was promoted into the Turks. That costs money you know…"
"Sir, I…I'm so sorry." The man nearly whispered.
"Tai, get my shotgun please." Rufus said to his tallest bodyguard.
"No, please don't kill me!" Dorian pleaded.
At those words everyone outside Rufus' office dropped to the ground. Rufus' own secretary tilted her computer monitor down and sat on the floor with the keyboard in her lap. On her first day as Rufus' secretary Helena had learned just how powerful Rufus' shotgun was. The pellets had gone right through the man Rufus shot, through the wall, whizzed not even an inch by her nose, and imbedded themselves into the clock on the wall opposite her desk. Since that day, her first day, if she heard someone pleading with the President she nearly threw herself onto the floor.
"Please…" Dorian whimpered. "I have a family…"
Tai gave the President his shotgun. Rufus could barely lift the heavy weapon but he would never let onto that. One of his weapons experts had rigged the trigger, making it so easy to pull that a baby could have shot the gun. The expert was sworn to secrecy of course. No one was allowed to know that the President was nearly out of commission. Rufus paused slightly and looked Dorian over.
Hmn. That's true. Dorian is a family man…
The blonde tried not to kill the subordinates who had families unless he absolutely had to. However that didn't stop him from completely destroying them…
"Fine. Since you have a family I won't kill you. However you've been demoted…five ranks. To advance up the ranks again you will have to impress me three times over. Now…leave my office before I change my mind."
"Yessir! Thank-you sir!" Dorian babbled, running from the office.
"Should we inform the Turks?" Azure, Rufus' second bodyguard, asked.
"Not yet. Elena would probably abandon Wutai and go right to Tseng. I don't want Palmer spending anymore of my money. Inform them tomorrow and send them to pick him up."
"Yessir."
-------------------------------------
They were an hour into their flight. Johnny had his eyes lightly closed and was dozing off slightly when Reno poked him in the side. The brunette opened his eyes and looked over at Reno.
"Come with me. I have to show you something." The redhead said.
"All right."
Reno and Johnny unbuckled their seatbelts and the brunette followed Reno through the curtain into the 'living quarters' part of the plane. Elena was fast asleep on the couch there. Rude was still in his seat doing a crossword puzzle. Reno led Johnny to what looked like a closet and pulled the door open. Inside were 4 black duffel bags. Reno pulled one out and showed it to Johnny.
"This one is yours. Rufus' lackeys prepare it before we go on a mission. Inside you'll find clothes and everything you'll need for the specific mission you're on plus a few backup things just in case you're sent on a spur of the moment mission. All right?"
Johnny nodded and Reno tossed the bag back into the closet.
"There's money in the front compartment of the bag. There's usually enough to last you through the mission but if you need more you'll have to use your own money or beg Rufus for some. Usually he'll give you a little more unless he's pissy."
"Okay."
"Well, I'm going to take a piss and then get a snack. Make yourself at home. If you're tired there's another couch back there somewhere. Bathroom is there and the mini fridge is packed with goodies. Enjoy."
And with that Reno made his way to the washroom. Johnny returned to the seating area and sat back down in his seat. He jumped a bit when Rude suddenly spoke,
"Reno show you your gear?"
"Yes."
"Don't lost any of it. If you do Rufus will chop the cost of replacing it out of your salary…and believe me the gear he buys us ain't cheap."
"I won't lose any of it." Johnny said.
A silence passed between the two men before Rude spoke again.
"So what excuse did he give you?"
"Excuse me?" Johnny blinked.
"Rufus. What excuse did he give you?"
"Oh. Uhm...that he was (edited)."
Rude laughed softly, "Well at least he has a valid excuse now."
"What excuse did he give you?" Johnny asked.
"Said he was too busy to find himself someone to court. I could barely keep a straight face when I turned him down and recommended Reno."
"And imagine your surprise when he told you (edited)." Reno said, walking into the seating area with a beer in hand.
"Hmn. He actually said he understood why I said no, said he'd ask you, and sent me on my way. Also…" The man eyed Reno's beer. "…we're on duty."
"It's one beer and we have nine hours left on our flight. It's not like I'll be wasted for our mission. No worries, Rude."
"I guess you're right." Rude said, getting up to get a beer of his own. "Want a beer, Johnny?"
"Sure. Thank-you."
Rude nodded and went back into the living quarters. Reno sat beside Johnny and twisted the cap off his beer.
"Normally I wouldn't drink while on duty but it is a friggin' ten hour flight. I'd go squirrelly if I didn't have some form of booze in me."
Johnny smiled softly, "Like the drink, huh?"
"Damn right I do." Reno smirked, taking a sip of his beer. "Booze, sex, cigarettes, money, and the job…as long as the job doesn't interfere with my off-duty slacking."
Rude entered the seating area again and handed Johnny his beer.
"Thanks."
Rude nodded and sat down to open his beer. The three men sat in silence and drank their beers.
"They need to put a TV in this place." Reno muttered after a while.
Rude smirked slightly and pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose. Johnny tilted his head slightly. Now that he thought of it he hadn't seen Rude without his sunglasses on. He wondered if the man wore them at night too.
---------------------------
Another four hours ticked by. Johnny had never been on a plane for so long. It was making him feel twitchy and claustrophobic. Rude looked up from his current crossword to see Johnny twitching in his seat. Rude looked at his watch.
Five hours. Not bad for a rookie…
The man looked over at Reno. The redhead was browsing through a gun magazine looking bored. Rude nudged Reno's foot and when the man looked up at him he motioned to Johnny. Reno looked at the brunette then nodded at Rude.
"Relax Johnny." Reno said. "You've been in an assault vehicle for ten hours before."
"Not really. You can stop and get out of an assault vehicle." Johnny replied.
"Come on." Reno stood up and motioned for Johnny to follow him.
The brunette got up and followed his boss. Reno led Johnny back into the living quarters. Elena was now sitting on the couch snacking on grapes and reading a book. She looked up as the pair walked by.
"Feeling twitchy, huh?" She said to Johnny.
Johnny nodded and Elena smiled at him sympathetically. The brunette smiled back wearily then continued to follow Reno. The redhead led him through another curtain, past a couch, and around a corner. When they came to a dead end Reno bent over and opened a hatch in the floor.
"Where are we going?" Johnny asked.
"Down into the helicopter bay." Reno replied. "It's big and open down there. You won't feel as enclosed and you can blow off some steam."
With that Reno swung down into the dark. Johnny peered in to see Reno climbing down a long ladder into a rather spacious looking area. The brunette took a deep breath and climbed onto the ladder. Below him, Reno whistled.
"Nice ass, rookie." Reno grinned.
"So that's why you went first." The brunette joked.
Reno laughed and they continued their descent into the helicopter bay. Once he reached the bottom Johnny had a look around. The Gelnika II had looked big from the outside but not this big. The bay held two helicopters and could probably hold a third with no problem. The bigger of the helicopters had guns mounted on it, the smaller didn't.
"(edited)?" Reno purred against Johnny's ear.
"No, I haven't." Johnny replied.
"Mmn. I'll keep that in mind for when we're off-duty." Reno stretched and yawned slightly. "So? Feel better now that you're in a bigger space?"
"Yeah." Johnny nodded. "Much better."
"Come on. We'll go for a walk around the hangar."
Johnny nodded and he went for a walk around the entire bay with his boss. By the time they reached the ladder again he didn't feel twitchy at all anymore.
"Was the first Gelnika like this?" Johnny asked.
"Nah. It didn't have any living quarters. It was strictly a helicopter and cargo plane."
The brunette nodded and looked around the hangar again.
"You ready to go back topside?"
"Yeah. You go first this time."
Reno smirked and started climbing the ladder. Johnny climbed up after him. He mimicked the redhead's earlier whistle.
"Nice ass, boss." He said.
"Why thank-you, rookie." Reno replied, laughing.
Johnny smiled softly and they climbed up the ladder and out of the hatch. Reno closed and locked the hatch and the pair made their way back to the seating area. Rude was done all the crosswords in his book and was now sitting there patiently. Elena was sitting beside him, still reading her book. Johnny and Reno took their seats. The brunette felt a little more twitchy again in the smaller space but he took a deep breath and calmed himself. Reno gently squeezed Johnny's shoulder and smiled.
"You're doing good, Johnny."
--------------------------------------
Johnny nearly cheered when the plane started to make its landing outside Wutai. He tightened his seatbelt and hung onto the arm rests.
"Better get used to flying fast, Johnny." Elena said. "We fly a lot."
"And go by boat." Rude said, "It's a good way to find out if you get sea sickness or not…"
Reno chuckled, "We have to pretty much hike to Wutai. Rufus doesn't want Palmer seeing a Shin-Ra plane and running off."
"Goody." Elena replied.
With a bump and a thump the Gelnika II landed in a field outside Wutai.
"What time is it?" Reno asked.
Rude looked at his watch, "Almost five-thirty p.m."
"Damn." The redhead murmured. "It always seems like such a waste…spending all that time sitting on our asses."
"Like you've ever had a problem with that." Elena remarked.
Reno glowered at the woman and unbuckled his seatbelt, standing up. "Let's get a move on."
The other Turks stood up and followed Reno. They got their gear ready and Rude opened the Gelnika II's door, swinging a rope ladder out of it.
"This thing needs a built-in stair case…" Elena muttered, making sure her duffel bag was strapped securely to her person before she started climbing down the ladder.
"Here." Reno handed a pistol to Johnny. "You're not allowed to use your sword until you're evaluated by one of Rufus' experts."
Johnny nodded and left his sword on the plane. Once they were all on the ground Reno attached his nightstick to his wrist. Both Elena and Rude tensed. Johnny was puzzled.
"All right. We're ready to go kill some ass!" Reno exclaimed, swinging his nightstick out wildly.
Elena ducked, Rude side-stepped, and Johnny got whacked right in the face with the metal rod.
"Ooh…damn…" Rude muttered.
"Sorry Johnny. We forgot to tell you that Reno gets a little er… excited once in a while." Elena said.
When he had been struck Johnny had stumbled away from the group like a punch-drunk boxer. He was now bracing himself against the Gelnika II and nursing his bruising and cut cheekbone. He looked up at Elena and Rude, nodding stiffly. Reno was oblivious to all this until he turned around and noticed the small drops of blood running down Johnny's cheek.
"Oh hell. Did I whack you?" He asked somewhat sheepishly.
Johnny nodded. His face still had a grimace of pain on it. Reno walked over to Johnny and released his nightstick so it just dangled from his wrist. He gently took Johnny's face in his hands and examined the brunette's injury.
"Sorry." He said.
Elena's mouth dropped open slightly as Reno literally licked Johnny's cut. Rude just smirked and waited for Reno to be done 'apologizing'. Johnny blushed slightly, pain forgotten, as he felt Reno's tongue lap at his cut.
"Feel better?" The redhead asked, licking his lips.
"Amazingly enough, yes." Johnny replied. "Thank-you."
"No problem." Reno said, looking at Rude. "Use Cure on his pretty face, eh? Don't want to leave a scar."
Rude nodded and cast Cure on Johnny. The cut and bruising flesh healed and Johnny wiped the remaining blood off his cheek with his sleeve.
"Thank-you Rude."
Rude nodded and smiled slightly in reply.
"Okay. Are we like ready to go now?" Reno asked.
The three Turks nodded and they set off. Wutai wasn't that far off but it was still quite a hike. It took them an hour and a half to reach the small resort town. Reno's stomach growled loudly and he patted it gently.
"Find out what Fatman is doing tonight then, if time allows it, we'll get something to eat. Rookie, you're with me. And use bribes before force, people. Don't tip Palmer off."
Everyone nodded and fanned out. Elena made her way to the fanciest restaurant while Rude checked out the bar that was popular with Shin-Ra employees. Reno and Johnny went to the most expensive hotel Wutai had. They entered the lobby and Reno looked around.
"Give me your gear, Johnny."
Johnny did so and Reno opened the front compartment. He rumpled through it then handed the brunette five-hundred gil.
"All right, the records Rufus had said that the fatass was staying here. You need to bribe the clerk into telling you what Palmer plans to do tonight. Okay?"
"What if he wants more than five-hundred?" Johnny asked.
"Quietly threaten to shoot him in the head." Reno replied. "If that doesn't work grab him by the shirt and yank him around a little. That usually scares answers out of people."
The brunette nodded a little warily. Reno grinned widely at him.
"You'll do fine, Johnny. Make me proud."
"I'll try…" Johnny cut off as Reno gave him a look. "I will."
"That's my boy. Remember, his name is Palmer Orion."
"Got it."
Johnny rolled the bills of gil up and stuffed them into one of the inside pockets in his coat. He approached the front desk and cleared his throat a bit. The clerk looked up at him.
"Can I help you?" He asked in a rather haughty tone.
"Yes, you can." Johnny replied. "You can tell me what Palmer Orion is doing tonight."
"I'm sorry sir. Those records are confidential."
"Are they now?"
The clerk's eyes widened when Johnny reached into his pocket and pulled out the fat roll of bills. His eyes went wider and wider as Johnny counted off each gil.
"Five-hundred. Tell me…what he has planned for tonight." Johnny said, flashing the cash at the clerk but keeping it hidden from other people in the lobby.
"H-he's booked one of our Jacuzzi rooms for tonight at…" The man trailed off as he checked in his book. "Ten p.m."
"Let me see that for myself."
"B-but."
"Show me the damn book." Johnny said, tone lowering.
The clerk handed the book to Johnny with shaking hands. The brunette read it. "Palmer Orion" had indeed booked a Jacuzzi room for ten p.m. The clerk wasn't giving him the run around.
"Thank-you for your cooperation." Johnny said, handing the book and the money to the clerk.
"Y-you're welcome."
As he turned away Johnny could barely stop himself from letting out a huge sigh of relief. He had honestly thought that the tough guy act wouldn't have worked but it did. He returned to Reno and smiled lightly.
"Did I do good, boss?" He asked.
"Yes. Very good for your first time. Your cherry has officially been popped, rookie." Reno smirked. "Come on. Let's see if Rude and Elena found anything out."
They found Rude waiting at one of the bridges over the river that ran through town but Elena wasn't back yet.
"Learn anything?" Reno asked.
"Just that Palmer ran up a drink tab that'll make Rufus tear his hair out." Rude replied. "You?"
"Palmer booked one of the hotel's Jacuzzi rooms for tonight." Johnny replied.
Rude nodded and the three men waited for Elena while keeping a lookout for Palmer. A few minutes later Elena returned.
"I went to all three restaurants that Palmer used Rufus' money at. He made reservations at the Stone Lotus tonight at seven o'clock."
"Hmn." Reno considered his options. "Tonight…ten o'clock. We'll turn Palmer into a roast pig. Now…let's get some food. I'm starving."
TBC
Holy crap another long chapter. This is both good news and bad news. Good news because I'm actually writing and updating my story…bad news because I have a horrible feeling that I'll suddenly hit writer's blockXP (/paranoid babblings). R&R please :)