Rufus had emptied every one of his magazines and even resorted to using the practice guns, yet by the time Tseng showed up, he was still angry. Or at least he was calling it anger. It definitely was when his brain shifted to images of a dark void with green eyes and a chilling smirk. He already suspected who it was supposed to have been.
Not that any of it mattered. Part of why he was so angry was because his mind refused to shut the images out so he could move on. He had too much riding on his current plans to be hung up by a nightmare.
He hadn't realized how much time had passed while he practiced shooting, but Tseng was glad to remind him. The Turk came in and bowed slightly before he waited for Rufus to finish emptying the gun. Once the sound levels had returned to normal, Tseng said, "I apologize for the interruption, sir, but you missed the first board meeting, and I was asked to remind you that your presence is mandatory."
For a split second, Rufus's jaw clenched, but that was the only sign of his continued irritation as he pointed to the door. "Fine. I need to clean up, but I will be in my office within a half hour. You can assure my father that I will be there for the meeting this afternoon."
Tseng's only response was a curt nod. However, the Turk fell into step beside Rufus as they headed back to the younger Shinra's apartment. Rufus almost wanted to tell the man to leave, but the logical side of his brain told him there had to be a reason, so he held it in and waited.
Once they were off the elevator and nearer to the restricted section of the floor, Tseng said, "Sir, I only wanted to confirm that we have your go-ahead."
Rufus didn't need to ask what the man was talking about. He never had given the order to book the meeting with Avalanche—not when the dream he had about a double-cross came within hours of the notification. He was still trying to decide if he should listen to the warning or leave things as they were. Finally, he frowned as he said, "We will talk about this after my last meeting."
That had obviously not been the answer Tseng had been anticipating. His eyes widened for a moment before he could get the expression under control. He responded with another curt nod as he said, "Then I will be by your office—"
He cut off when the two men rounded the corner right before Rufus's apartment only to see a body lying on the floor. Rufus froze, and his eyes widened as his brain tried to make sense of what he was seeing. For a disorienting moment, he wondered if he was still asleep and dreaming somehow. However, that thought came crashing down when Tseng pulled out his gun and held out his free hand as he said, "Stay back, sir. I'll check to see what is going on."
That seemed to kick Rufus's brain into high gear. He grabbed Tseng's arm to keep him from getting closer to the woman on the floor. He had to ignore the way she was splayed faced down as he forced his mind to stay on track. Although, his following words were not the ones he had planned to say. "You can see her?"
Tseng was still tensed, but the look he shot Rufus was clearly confused as he questioned, "Sir?"
Rufus's jaw clenched in momentary irritation, but he didn't release Tseng's arm. Instead, he commanded, "Keep an eye out while I check her."
For a second, it looked like Tseng might argue, but something in the steeled set of Rufus's expression must have been enough to make him second guess that decision. Instead, he gave Rufus a curt nod before he moved to the end of the hall to ensure no one would disturb whatever was going on.
Once Tseng was out of the vicinity, Rufus turned back to the body and verified that he was not seeing things. The blouse and skirt were ones he had seen not that long ago. One of the heels was broken, and the woman's black hair covered her face. Even so, he already knew what he would find. He knew Tseng was still watching, but he ignored the other man as he slowly knelt.
He cursed his own hesitance when he reached out to brush the hair back. He had to bite back a curse when his motion exposed the face that had been haunting his dreams for the past week. As soon as he had that confirmation, his gaze shot down her body and back up again. His frown became more defined as he didn't see any blood or obvious injuries. What did that mean?
Honestly, he had no idea how a figment of his imagination was lying in the hall by his rooms. It made him question everything that had happened, but for the moment, he let those thoughts lay dormant while he dealt with the immediate circumstances.
When he didn't see any blood, he reached out to her closest wrist to see if there was a pulse. Only a moment passed before he felt the strong flutter of a steady heartbeat. He swallowed an aggravated noise as he reached out and gently turned the woman onto her back. The motion caused her hair to fall back in her face, obscuring her features.
He watched closely for a moment to see if there was any tell that she might not be as comatose as she seemed. He found nothing beyond the steady rise and fall of her chest. Finally, he brushed her hair back again before he gently slapped one of her cheeks as he said, "Senna. Wake up."
He ignored the noise from the man behind him when he said the woman's name. He already knew that Tseng would not miss the use of a name he had asked the man to look into a matter of days ago. It didn't matter at the moment. Instead, he slapped her face again, a little harder that time. Finally, he was rewarded with a groan and fluttering eyelashes.
It took several moments before Senna's eyes finally made their way open. She looked blearily in his direction and blinked several times before she focused on his face. "Rufus?" However, that was all she got out before one of her hands flew to her head, and her face scrunched into a pained expression. She made a strangled noise that was almost a scream before she fell limp once more.
The whole situation had Rufus on edge, but somehow he doubted she had been acting. Something in her expression and movements made him think there was more going on than he could immediately see. Once he came to that conclusion, he bent to pick her up as he called out to Tseng. "Find a doctor and bring them. Make sure it is someone discreet. If there is no one, then ensure whoever you bring has a reason to keep their mouth shut."
Tseng eyed the woman warily for a moment before he pulled out his phone. Rufus gave him an incredulous look that bordered on anger, but Tseng only put a hand over the receiver as he said, "My apologies, sir, but I cannot leave you alone with an unknown element."
Rufus wanted to call him out for insubordination, but Senna picked that moment to curl in closer to his chest—or perhaps in on herself. Either way, even though she was unconscious, the look on her face was pinched, and he didn't want to waste any more time getting someone in to figure it out. He ignored Tseng's whispered words into the phone and instead maneuvered into his room with the man's help before taking Senna to his bed, thankful someone had been in to replace the bedding since he was last there.
By the time he laid her out, Tseng was off the phone and back to her side. Rufus wasn't shocked by the Turk's inquisitive nature when the man whispered, "Sir, did I hear you correctly? Is this the woman you asked me to find last week?"
Rufus was unable to catch himself before he ran a hand through his already tousled hair. Still, he brought it back to his side in a fist to keep from doing it again as he said, "It would appear so, though I am unsure how."
When it looked like Tseng would ask more, Rufus held up one hand. "We can discuss details later. For now, you can see she is out. Go make sure no one sees whoever is brought."
Tseng hesitated for a few seconds as his gaze flicked to the unconscious woman. He did not look pleased, but he still nodded curtly as he said, "I will return with the doctor in less than fifteen minutes." Rufus didn't doubt the truth of those words. He made a dismissive gesture that ushered the Turk out, but his eyes never left the woman in his bed.
As soon as Tseng was out of the room, Rufus cautiously made his way to the side of the bed. He sat on the edge and watched as Senna curled into a fetal position. Whimpers escaped her lips, but she still didn't seem to be awake. As ludicrous as the thought was, he had to reassure himself that she wasn't sporting injuries he might have missed—like broken ribs or internal bleeding.
There was less resistance than he anticipated as he pushed her legs down and her shoulder back so that she was in more of a prone position. He still didn't see blood, but he couldn't stop his hand from reaching out and sliding his fingertips across her ribs. His frown deepened. There was no indication that they were drastically broken, as they would have been after she was hit. However, that wasn't why he was practically glaring—no, that was caused by the hauntingly familiar feel of her body under his fingertips. She felt no different than she had in any of his dreams. The question was, why? How much of what he had seen been real or something implanted somehow?
He was given little time to deliberate the question. It seemed that Tseng was able to find the appropriate person more quickly than expected. Although Rufus was not pleased to see the Turk brought the man who often dealt with his father's mistakes. He swallowed a frustrated noise. The man would do well enough for the moment. At least Rufus was sure he knew how to be discreet.
Dr. Eugene wore a condescending smirk as he approached. There was even a touch of humor in his voice as he said, "I never took you for the kind to make the same mistakes as your father.."
The man didn't have a chance to blink before Rufus had his gun pulled from his hidden holster and aimed between the doctor's eyes. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not that it was out of bullets. With how close his control was to slipping, he very well may have shot the man. Although, the good doctor didn't need to know it was empty.
Rufus's voice was ice-cold as he said, "Here is the difference. I would rather shoot you than deal with the fallout of your flapping tongue. You have two choices—shut up, do your job, and get paid, or you can leave here with a few extra holes."
Apparently, the doctor got the message. He pulled the bag he carried around and set it on the bed. He rummaged around in it while he asked, "I need to know what I'm looking for. What happened?"
Rufus had lowered the gun, but he didn't re-holster it. He kept it in the good doctor's line of sight as he said, "I don't know what happened. However, she was found unconscious and only woke for a few moments since then. She seems to be in pain."
Dr. Eugene frowned at Rufus's lacking explanation, but his eyes flicked to the gun, and he didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled out a stethoscope. There was nothing but silence in the room as he checked her heart rate, lungs, temperature, her head for any bumps, and her eyes. The last was the only thing that gave him pause. His voice was tense as he reached into his back while he said, "I can't see anything obvious that would cause her unconsciousness. I will need to run some blood tests, but before then, I'll try to wake her to see if she can give me any information."
Instead of answering, Rufus leveled another frown his way. The expression caused the doctor to clear his throat nervously, but he didn't add anything else as he pulled a tiny vial out, and the sound of broken glass could be heard. He waved it under Senna's nose, and for the first time since before Rufus picked her up, her eyes fluttered and opened.
Despite the other people in the room, her focus immediately went to Rufus. It took all his control not to make a surprised noise when he finally noticed the one thing that was different than his dreams. Not that he was given long to wonder. She pushed herself up on one arm while the other went to her head, and she winced while she said, "Rufus? What—where are we? I don't recognize this place. What happened to me?"
There was a sense of familiarity in her question that had Rufus answering before he thought better of it. "This is my bedroom, and I don't know what happened. We were hoping you could tell us."
For some reason, it didn't seem like she had heard all of his explanation. She had made her way to her knees, but both of her hands were on her head, and it looked like she was trying to physically keep it from exploding. There was evident pain in her eyes, but she didn't get to say anything before Dr. Eugene put a hand on her arm and tried to guide her back down as he said, "Hold on there. We don't know why you passed out. You should take it easy."
Despite the obvious pain she was in, Senna's hands fell into her lap as she warily looked at the doctor and said, "You can see me?"
Rufus didn't miss the small, questioning noise that left Tseng's lips at her question that mirrored his own from when they found her. Apparently, Senna heard it too. She looked over to see Tseng was staring right at her, and her voice had the tiniest waver as she said, "You too?"
Rufus watched as the Turk's eyes went from curious to calculating. He could already see the gears turning in Tseng's head as the man tried to figure out the relevance of that question. However, that was a worry for later. He tried to keep his voice even as he said, "Senna, this is not a dream."
She made a scoffing noise, but it barely had any power behind it. One of her hands was back on her head as she said, "Like—like a dream knows they're—dreaming." Each word seemed to have been wrung from her, and they were followed by a low groan before her eyes shot back up to him.
Both her hands were balled into fists and pressed against her temples as she looked at him with an intensity he hadn't expected. Her voice still wavered, but she managed to speak without halting as she ground out, "Tell whoever is screaming to shut the hell up. My head is killing me."
Rufus shared a look with the doctor and saw his own suspicions in the man's eyes. He then looked back at Senna and noticed she had started to tremble, and tears were filling her eyes even though she seemed to be trying to hold them back.
Dr. Eugene had shifted to grab something out of his bag. Rufus looked over to see the man had a syringe in his hand out of Senna's sight. Not that it would have been difficult to hide it from her by that point. She had curled in on herself again and fallen on her side. Her eyes were shut tight, and her hands had moved to cover her ears.
The whispers from her were the only sound for several seconds as all three men watched her curl tighter and beg to wake up. When she started to quietly sob, Dr. Eugene held up the syringe as he asked, "Sir?"
Rufus's only response was a curt nod. He almost felt sorry for the woman when the doctor had to move quickly to counter her movements and ended up shoving the syringe in an exposed portion of her thigh with enough force that it was sure to bruise. It was telling of the amount of pain she had to be in that she hadn't even flinched.
Thankfully, it seemed that the sedative was fast-acting. It was barely more than a few minutes before Senna seemed to relax. When her hands slipped down from her face and fell in front of her, the doctor let out a sigh of relief. Any humor the man had shown when he first arrived was long gone as he frowned at Rufus and said, "Sir, I will need to perform some blood tests to verify, but from what I have observed, she seems to be suffering from mako overdose. Auditory hallucinations are a common side effect. And her eyes—"
Rufus had already reached the same conclusion, so he ignored the way the doctor seemed to shiver for a moment. Instead, he turned to Tseng as he said, "I need a Turk assigned to inconspicuous duty in this area until I say otherwise."
He then looked back down at Dr. Eugene as he said, "What will you need?"
The doctor ran a hand tiredly down his face as he looked around and said, "I don't suppose you would be all right with me transferring her to the medical labs, or you would have brought her there. With that being the case, I would recommend we at least get her started with an IV. There is no telling how long she'll be out."
Rufus didn't bother acknowledging the man. Instead, he turned back to Tseng as he said, "Ensure everything the doctor believes will be needed is brought up without raising suspicions." He then turned back to the doctor with slightly narrowed eyes as he said, "I hope you don't need a reminder of what would happen should word of your patient get out."
It wasn't a question, and the doctor could obviously tell. The man had to swallow twice before he could make his voice work. "Yes, sir. Not a soul will hear it from me."
Rufus wasn't entirely sure he could trust the rat of a man to not let something slip but also had no qualms about forcefully and permanently dealing with any leak. Instead, he waved Tseng off, and the Turk immediately moved to 'assist' the doctor in gathering his things to leave. Once both men were gone, Rufus stared at Senna's sleeping form for several minutes, as though he could somehow see past her lids and into her disturbing eyes.
He wasn't sure why, but it bothered him that they were no longer the storm grey that he was familiar with. Now, they were a blue-green that was nearly neon. Even if she hadn't been hearing voices that weren't there, those glowing eyes would have been a giveaway of her issue.
A/N: I did warn you that we were on the brink of a major turn in the story. Plus it was all in Rufus's POV. What do you all think so far? Surprised? (I know, probably not after the last chapter lol). Anyway, the next few days in the story should be interesting for everyone involved. How do you think the vice-president to be will react once he's had a chance to calm a little more? I'm excited to share it all.