Chapter Two

A/N: Thanks so much to all the reviewers! Enjoy.

I don't own any of the following characters/places etc.

Rude kicked down the locked wooden door in his path and surged past the remaining splinters, a large chunk snagging on his trousers in his haste. To hell with getting out as quickly and smoothly as possible. Behind him he heard Tseng on his phone, calling in the chopper that had hoped to remain dormant for the night, and communicating as much of the information he had gotten off the computers as possible, thinking ahead for worst case scenarios. Rude was too preoccupied to be touched that Tseng was endangering his mission for Reno's sake, but made a mental note to commend him for it later.

They could still make out the muffled sounds of gunfire and running feet above their heads, as they weaved through the winding rooms of the first floor, originally an office building, angling for the main staircase.

Rude didn't know what the hell was happening up there, but Reno seemed to be holding his own. Rufus and Tseng had estimated that only twenty (or there abouts) members of the gang would actually be in the building tonight, which had made it a prime time for their retrieval mission. All the same, all other intelligence had suggested that the Red Knuckles were bastard fighters; men after the Turk's hearts, and not even Reno was indestructible, regardless of his own opinion.

Hell, even Elena had bested him on drunken occasion, although Rude suspected that had something to do with Reno's eternal hesitation in fighting women. The redhead assured it was merely that he didn't think them equal opponents. Rude generally just smiled and nodded.

Fuck, I can't lose him, he cursed inwardly, growling. Not to these bastards. Not to anyone. As a Turk, he'd always promised himself he'd never get involved in that kind of relationship, not with anyone. Turk's were detached, violent killers, dealing with detached, violent killers. Everyday could be their last. At least if something went wrong, anyway. Rude didn't need to go through that; put someone through that. He knew enough about that kind of loss anyway; his sister and mother being ripped violently away from him as a young kid; watching their blood splatter on the carpet; the street thug grinning at him and pissing off down an alleyway.

Not being able to help them.

Then Reno had showed up one day and smiled at him and blown that rule to figurative smithereens. He still wasn't sure what it was about the kid. They'd just connected instantaneously. Their first mission had gone anything but smoothly; with the target finding out before hand and surprising them both by taking the newbie down with a bullet through the shoulder, but up until then, the pair had fallen swiftly into an effective, dangerous team. Reno's tendency to talk himself hoarse notwithstanding.

Tseng darted past him suddenly, and he followed, shifting over to the side to peer up cautiously into the great open stairwell; winding up steadily to the ceiling. Lights lit up the well on the forth floor, and shouts and crows flooded down around them, almost indistinguishable.

"Still busy," he commented, somewhat relieved though mostly morbidly confused.

"They won't kill him," murmured Tseng, inching up the stairs. "They'll know he has friends here. They'll try to find out where and why."

Rude growled, low in his throat, and made his way slowly after Tseng, struggling to formulate some kind of game plan in his head. Somehow he doubted that his original concept of leaping gung ho into the fray would end up quite so triumphantly as he would like. They needed more men, and he hated himself for admitting it. A Turk, ideally, should have no trouble dealing with more than twenty men. But these men were street thugs like himself, and played dirty. And they had Reno, or seemed to.

No. Something more strategic would probably work better.

He tracked Tseng's progress through the shadows, wondering if perhaps he should insist the Wutaian get out with the data first. Fond as Rufus was of his Turks, Rude wasn't sure how impressed he would be if they returned with a whole Reno but a failed mission.

But fuck it. This was his Reno.

This was not going to be pretty.

A sudden cheer went up, and Rude's blood ran cold, inwardly terrified.

"Rude! Head's up!"

Rude froze at Tseng's barked command and glanced up, eyes widening and arms shooting out in time to catch his plummeting partner, driving them both awkwardly into the hard, concrete steps. The impact winded him, and he winced, head cracking solidly against the ground, but Tseng was already over him, pulling the motionless form of Reno off his chest and holding him up, offering Rude a hand to his feet.

Rude ignored it, springing up and cursing the wave of dizziness that flooded through him; hands reaching immediately for his unconscious, battered partner.

"Reno? What the fuck-"

"Not now Rude," hissed Tseng, pulling him away from the staircase as pellets began to spray around their heads, fracturing the tiles on the walls. "Questions later. Now, we get the fuck out of here."

One look at the blood coating Reno and Rude turned, blinded by fury, and headed back for the stairs, but Tseng saw it coming and jerked him back, pushing him ahead of himself.

"How's that chopper coming along," he snapped into his phone, leading Rude away from the gunfire and sounds of the chase, and searching for a suitable way out. "Elena? Wh- Never mind. Which side?" He skidded to a sudden halt and changed direction, tugging Rude off to the left; a dead end with a full scale glass window as a wall.

Rude fought with himself but had followed Tseng obediently, tearing his eyes from his partner and simply hugging him protectively to his chest; accepting that it was not yet the right time to check for injuries. The sound of the helicopter suddenly roared through the night air and he glanced out, eyes widening as it suddenly swooped down into view, more or less pausing directly alongside their window.

None too soon, as he heard the gang approaching, and a rogue bullet shattered the extensive light fitting in the next room. Tseng whipped out his own gun again and fired skilled shots into the glass, shattering the window with a loud crack and an explosion of shards. Elena angled the chopper as close as possible to the building, and Tseng waited, nodding at Rude.

Not hesitating for a moment he hefted Reno closer to his chest and took a running jump, sliding roughly through the wide open door of the helicopter and slamming solidly into the far wall. Not his most graceful exit, but efficient enough.

Tseng followed, landing smoothly on his feet inside just as the first of the gang appeared, toting heavy guns and screeching angrily, lacing what was left of the huge window with bullets.

Elena took it as a signal and soared upward, somehow winning only minimal damage to the sides of the bird as she weaved past another building, and on into the night, back to ShinRa.

Tseng leaned out and watched the building fade, and put his hand to his heaving chest, securing the data drive.

"Mission complete," he managed, panting.

TBC, please R&R