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No...
Reno waited in the bushes behind the shack until he heard footsteps in the sand. He stayed hidden until he heard the door open and close before going to sit under the window once more.
"Okay, I got one. There was a storeroom near the manager's office with a few extra uniforms."
"So, tonight right?" Came Cloud's hesitant reply.
"Yes, around eleven thirty I will return to the casino and retrieve Logan."
Logan isn't even in the same town, you doofus. Reno smiled, in some weird way these two were like a modified version of the Three Stooges.
Then suddenly he felt the strange urge to sneeze. His mind began reeling.
Fuck! I can't sneeze, but if I get up too fast they'll know I'm here.
In desperation, Reno shoved his head down into the sand and tried his best to keep from inhaling it and holding in his sneeze. After a few seconds, his sneeze came out in the form of a small squeak that escaped through his nose. He lifted his head from the sand and stayed perfectly still, hoping that nobody heard him.
He was getting ready to get up and try to slink away when his whole body froze. He tried to move his limbs but was unsuccessful.
Shit…
"Well, what do we have here?"
"Someone who just inhaled a whole shit load of sand. Now I'd be very grateful if you let me go so I could blow my nose."
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."
"Well, why not? I haven't done anything to you, have I?" Reno asked, getting agitated.
"Because you overheard our plan that's why. We couldn't possibly let you go because you'd go directly to Tifa and tell her."
"Gee, Einstein, when'd you figure that out?"
A few seconds later Reno was lifted off of the ground a good three feet and rotated around so Aeris could see him. Cloud chose this time to come out of the shack and stared dumfounded at Reno.
"What are you doing here?" Cloud asked, pointing his index finger at Reno.
"Well, isn't it obvious? I'm surprised, Strife, I thought you were a little smarter than this."
Then, all of a sudden, it was like an invisible hand had constricted around his throat and was slowly putting more and more pressure into choking him. "Never, ever insult Cloud like that,"Aeris said vehemently as she applied more and more force on Reno's throat. "Do you understand me?"
Reno made the closest sound to 'yes' that he could muster before his throat was relieved. He took in deep, gasping breaths trying to get more air to his lungs. "Sorry," he said, after he regained himself.
"Well, what should we do to him?" Cloud asked, looking to Aeris for guidance.
"We keep him captive."
Aeris turned around and started walking back into the shack and, to Reno's utter amazement, he started moving in the direction Aeris was moving. It was like she had picked up some sort of telekinetic power that she, obviously, never had before.
Once inside the shack, Aeris guided him to the back wall. She made it so he was sitting in the corner with his hands shackled to the wall and his ankles anchored to the floor. But, of course, the shackles were visible.
"You better let me out of this or I'll-"
"You'll do what? It doesn't look like you're going to be going anywhere for a while."
Reno leaned his head against the wall and resigned himself to his fate. Aeris and Cloud started talking about their battle plan for that night. Aeris changed into the uniform that she had stolen from the casino and changed into Tifa once again.
"Wait here, Cloud, and when I leave make sure to tie Reno up so he won't escape. I'll be back in a little."
Reno was dumbfounded. He was staring at what looked like Tifa but it wasn't. Aeris sounded and looked exactly like her. Okay, something here isn't right.
Soon after Aeris left, Cloud ventured into the pantry and retrieved some rope then proceeded to tie Reno up with it. Once he was done, Cloud went and sat down at the table and waited. After many long moments the silence was driving Reno absolutely crazy. "So, Strife, how do you expect Aeris is gonna walk right into that casino unnoticed by Tifa or any of the people she works with? You guys are a few cans short of a six pack if you ask me."
Cloud looked at Reno like he was some kind of retard. "She'll make herself invisible. No one will see her."
"Well, don't you think it'll look a little odd if she magically appears in the middle of the casino floor? If she does that you can just kiss kidnapping Logan away because regular human beings just don't appear and disappear at will, ya know."
"She knows that," Cloud said, sounding almost bored with Reno.
Reno rolled his eyes and rested his head against the rotting wood of the shack.
Only an hour later, Aeris stormed back into the shack and hastily returned to her own form. She strode over to Reno and stared down at him with a fire smoldering in her eyes.
"Where is he?" She asked, venom dripping from her voice.
Reno smiled for he knew that Logan being gone was not in their plan. He chuckled before he answered her. "You really think I would tell you? Sorry, my lips are sealed."
Aeris glowered at him for a few moments before she raised her hands with her fingers extending outward towards Reno. Suddenly electricity shot from her finger tips and swarmed around Reno's body, flicking over his chest, arms and legs. Reno clamped his eyes shut and bit down on his tongue to keep from screaming. He didn't want to give that wench the satisfaction that she was causing him pain.
After what seemed like forever, she stopped. Reno's whole body went lax. He could barely move and sweat was beginning to run down his face. He wasn't about to lie. What Aeris had just done had hurt more than anything he had ever felt. It was almost like those miniature bolts of lightning were ripping apart his insides and tearing through his muscles.
"Well, will you tell me? Where is Logan?"
Reno looked up at Aeris, still breathing heavily. "Go to Hell," he said, his voice raspy.
"Very well."
The electricity shot from her fingers once more and the bolts coiled around his body, touching every sensitive nerve and tearing it apart with its searing pain. Reno couldn't keep it held in anymore and finally let his screams echo out into the night. Tears started to fall from his eyes as he started to lose consciousness.
Aeris chose this time to stop.
"I'll give you one last chance before I kill you. Will you tell me where Logan is?"
Reno started to chuckle, which probably confused Aeris just a fraction. "What will you accomplish by killing me? If you kill me you'll never figure out where Logan is."
Aeris looked thoughtful for a while before speaking. "You're right."
When Reno thought she would turn around and walk away she did the total opposite. This time she used her telekinetic powers to pick up small shards of shattered glass and proceeded to leave small cuts all over his body. Reno's whole body ached from her recent attacks and the small cuts that were being distributed throughout his body was only making the searing pain even worse.
One human being can only take so much pain and Reno reached his limit, passing out cold seconds later.
.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox.
I left work that night right at midnight and decided to wait until I got home to call Reno. I was really tired so I wanted to get in bed as soon as he came over.
Work had been murder. Tony was flooded at the bar and couldn't get our drink orders to us as fast as he usually does so all of the girls had to go to one of the restaurant's bars to get the drinks. Tony was so flooded, in fact, that he pulled me from cocktail waitress to bartender for five hours of my six-hour shift. Raoul dropped by around eight o'clock and told me that he would pay me extra for helping Tony out, which I was eternally grateful for.
I collapsed into the seat of my truck and rubbed my sore neck. "Man, I really need a back massage." On top of a sore neck and back, my feet were also killing me. I had forgotten to kick my high heels off and ended up standing on my two inch heels for five hours. Usually during my shift I'm walking around so my heels don't make my feet hurt as much but just standing behind a bar made me hate life by the end of the night.
I drove back to the condo in no real hurry. Once I was inside, I kicked my heels off and grabbed my cell phone from my purse and dialed Reno's number.
.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox.
Reno jumped awake when he heard his cell phone go off. Aeris looked at him. "Who is it?"
Reno shrugged. "It's probably Tifa. I was supposed to go over to her house after work."
"Let it ring," Cloud said from where he was sitting on the other side of the shack.
Aeris nodded and went back to what she was doing. Reno began struggling at the invisible restraints around his wrists and ankles but soon gave up as he realized that he wouldn't be able to get free of them. He rested his head against the hard wood of the wall and closed his eyes, trying once more to fall asleep.
Sometime during the night, Aeris had drifted off to sleep, allowing Reno to be freed of the restraints around his wrists and ankles. Fortunately, Reno was awake when he was released. It took all the remaining strength in Reno's body to keep his arms from violently slapping against the wall. He rubbed his wrists and ankles and tried to figure out how he was going to sneak out without waking anyone up.
Both Cloud and Aeris were sound asleep in two cots against the far wall. If he was quiet enough he could sneak out and try to make his way to Tifa's house.
After a few minutes he unsteadily rose onto his feet and began to slowly make his way towards the door. He made sure he kept his eyes on the two sleeping forms in the back just in case he needed to book it out of there. He managed to reach the door successfully and then proceeded to open it. He opened it wide enough for him to slip out before he took off down the beach toward town and Tifa's house.
"Man, this must be my lucky day," he mumbled as he ran, not paying attention to his sore muscles and aching body.
.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox.
I was disappointed when Reno didn't answer his phone but decided to stay up for a while and wait for him just in case he showed up. One o'clock rolled around and he still had not shown up so I just went to bed. I was exhausted and my bed was calling my name.
"I should have known he wouldn't show up," I mumbled as I got dressed for bed. "I should have known."
Inside I was hurt. I had been stood up many times in my life and I didn't want it to happen anymore. I wanted to find someone to love me, someone who would do anything for me. I wanted, more than anything, for Reno to be that someone. He even said he loved me. He said it to my face, but I guess you can't trust men after all. You can't live with them but you can't live without them.
I drifted off to sleep a little while later, hoping that I wouldn't have dreams about Reno.
I was jolted awake what seemed like only a few minutes later. I turned my blurry, unfocused eyes to the alarm clock on my bedside table. It was almost four o'clock in the morning. I sighed as I heard a loud pounding on the door before rolling out of my bed.
I turned a lamp in the living room on before walking towards the door. "Who the hell is knocking on my door in the middle of the night?" I muttered, not at all happy about being woken up.
I flicked the switch for the outside light and opened the door. I jumped back in horror at the sight of Reno. There were small cuts all over his body and blood had soaked his pants and shirt. My fatigue forgotten, I rushed toward him and caught him before he sunk to the ground. "Oh my God, Reno! What happened?"
I carried him into my room and threw all the blankets off the bed before I helped him lay down. I grabbed a chair from the dining room table and brought it to Reno's bedside. I sat down next to him and put my hand on his cheek. "Reno, what happened?" I repeated.
He opened his eyes and looked over at me, fatigue swimming through his teal colored orbs. "When I left, I saw Cloud walk out of a woman's clothing store so I decided to follow him. As I walked behind him, it seemed like he was talking to someone. He walked down to the sailor's shack two miles down the beach. When he got there, Aeris was with him."
I frowned. "Reno, Aeris is dead. She couldn't be with Cloud."
"Well, she was and they're gonna kidnap Logan. They even tried tonight. Good thing he's in Corel."
"What?"
"Yeah, Aeris disguised herself as you and tried to go to the casino to get Logan."
"Well, what happened to you?" I asked, examining a few of the cuts on his arm.
"They caught me. Aeris left soon after I got caught and once she got back she tried to get where he was out of me but I didn't cave."
"Oh, Reno," I said, tears starting to come to my eyes. "Well, hold on. We have to get these cuts cleaned up."
I pushed the chair aside and opened the bottom drawer of my bedside table once again. I emptied my materia orbs onto the floor and searched around for my Master Cure materia. I smiled when I found it then placed the different colored orbs back in the bag and put it back in the drawer. I placed the green materia orb beside my alarm clock and hovered over Reno.
"Well, I'm gonna have to get you out of those clothes." I started to take off his shoes and socks with no protest from him. He was too exhausted to care. I managed to get his shirt off of him with minimal difficulty before moving to his pants.
Once he was lying on my bed in his boxers, I picked up my Master Cure materia and sat back down in the chair. I wrapped my hands tightly around the green orb and concentrated. A few seconds later, the materia flared to life and small green tendrils leapt from the surface and wrapped around Reno's body, repairing the damage that had been done and closing up the many small cuts all over his body.
After the materia had worked its magic, I placed the green orb back on my bedside table and leaned in close to look at some of Reno's cuts. They had closed up and small white scars replaced the open cuts. The scars would eventually lighten and become harder to see.
I pushed the chair back and sighed, walking out of my room to get a bowl of warm water and a washrag. The materia had closed the cuts up but didn't get rid of the blood that had caked itself on Reno's skin so I would have to remove it myself.
Once I retrieved everything I needed, I settled back into the chair and slowly began to scrub off the blood from Reno's body. After about a half an hour of careful scrubbing I finally washed off all of the blood. I poured the water out in the bathroom sink and left the bowl in kitchen sink before returning to my room and pulling out something for Reno to wear. I returned to his bedside and put my hand on shoulder, shaking it slightly to wake him up.
He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to adjust them to the light before he looked at me. "What?" He asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.
"Here," I said, handing him the shirt and the pants. "Put these on so you won't be so cold."
He grabbed the shirt and pants from my hand and rose from the bed as I went to collect all the blankets that I had thrown on the floor. "Reno, what are we gonna do?"
He pulled the shirt over his head and stepped into the pants. He looked at me helplessly. "I don't know. You just can't let Logan out of your sight until we get to the bottom of this."
I nodded before walking back towards the bed. I threw the blankets back on the bed and we both climbed in. "Just don't do anything like that ever again. Whatever Aeris did to you she probably could have done worse."
"Hey, don't worry about me," Reno said, trailing his fingers down my cheek. "I used to be a Turk. I think I can handle myself." I nodded as I cuddled up against his chest. "Hey, thanks for fixin' me up. I feel a lot better."
"No problem."
"Good thing I don't have to go in to work tomorrow," Reno said, rubbing his eyes. "Let's go to sleep, babe. I'm bushed." Because Reno was on the side that was closer to the lamp he reached over and flicked it off. He gave me a quick kiss in the dark before yawning. "See ya in the mornin', babe."
Author's Note:
Once again, thank you to all of you who reviewed. Oh, and one more thing, how many of you caught the Star Wars referances in this chapter?
Till next chapter!
DragonGirl323
