Tengoko: Third update today. Tengoko's on a roll. That or I have no life. Well. This chapter was a little difficult. By the time I finished writing it, I was up to thirteen pages. So, I edited it and cut some parts out to make it shorter. I think I did an alright job. Nothing is lacking from what I can tell. Mostly minute, irrelevant details were what got put on the chopping block. Either way. I'd love reviews. I can't stress enough how much they help me. Oh, and one more thing. I want to ask youall something, but I'll do it at the end of the chapter. Well, until then. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: FF7. Not mine. I swear.
Rated M for language and romance

Chapter 12: Mental Torture

How long had it been raining? He didn't know. He didn't care. It seemed so trivial. Everything seemed that way lately. His family was falling apart all around him, and just when he thought he had patched things up, somewhere along the way, something else would fall to pieces.

He stared down at his hands. Had it really been thirteen years? He could still remember how it felt to hold him for the very first time. That moment, that euphoria that had filled his heart the second he looked into his son's eyes, that in itself could sum up the joys of fatherhood. Wesley was his pride. His joy. He gave all his heart to his son. And now, it felt more and more like he had let him down. He had failed his son.

His fingers began to tremble. How he missed those days. When Wesley was small enough to fit in his arms. It didn't seem that long ago, but deny it as he may, his son had grown. He could no longer hold him close to keep him safe and protected. No longer could he keep him sheltered all the time. He was facing the world. That's not what hurt. What hurt was, the world was getting the best of him.

Reno felt a tightening in his chest. He was struggling. Not now. He couldn't cry now. Not with Tifa there. He took a deep breath to hold it in. Still, a few tears snuck passed the defense he'd quickly set up. It didn't matter. She didn't see. She was behind him, her cheek resting on his back, her arms wrapped around his waist.

"I don't know how to help him anymore," Reno said, rubbing his hand over Tifa's much smaller one. He wasn't crying, true. But Tifa could hear in his voice that he had been on the brink. She'd been married to him, loved him long enough to know his different traits and what they meant.

"Just keep trying, is all we can do, babe. We have to let him know that we aren't going to give up on him, no matter how hard this is going to get. Most importantly, we have to keep telling him that we love him, unconditionally and forever."

Reno nodded and then turned to face his wife. Her crimson eyes bore into his, trying to read his soul. A few years ago, he never would have let her. That was just in his nature to do; shut the entire world off. Even those he cared most about. But now, he let her see. His pain. His grief. His remorse and regret. Everything. And it spilled out surprisingly in the form of tears.

She pulled him into her arms. She hated it when he was like this. It was a rare thing to see him cry. Last time he had, it was in the courtroom during the murder trial. That spoke infinite numbers of his pain. At least he wasn't sobbing. That would have undone her, and then they'd both have been crying.

"It's not too late for him," she whispered in his ear. "Redemption is always possible. And he's a good boy. He'll come back to us…when he's ready."

She felt him wipe away his tears. It was incredible how quickly he could trounce them. One second to feel sorrow so great, the next to completely ignore it. It was a talent. She only knew of two people who mastered it. Vincent…and her husband.

"He still loves us," she assured him. "I know he does."

"I never doubted that," he said. "But, he must be feeling so alone right now. And there's nobody who can help him because he won't let us. It's as if he's determined to face this on his own."

"Sounds like somebody I know," she said with a wink. "He's shaping out to be just like his father."

"Let's just hope my relationship with him is profoundly greater than I had with my father."

"Oh, you have nothing to worry about, babe," Tifa said with a smile. "He admires you. He tells everybody else that much. Of course, he'd never tell you. It'd probably embarrass him to know I told you."

"Even so, I needed to hear it." He hugged her tightly and then stepped back, looking out the window once again. Tifa watched him carefully for a few seconds and then turned around to get ready for bed.

The pounding on their door made both of them jump. Without waiting for permission, Cid burst into the room, mad as hell, and slammed the door behind him. "Your little brat of a son used his damn materia on my wife. On MY wife!"

"What?" they both asked at once.

"Is she hurt?" Tifa pressed.

"No. It was cast sleepel. But that's beside the point. He had no right to do that." He took a deep breath after that, as though he were trying to force a calm disposition now. "With that out of the way, I think you both should now…he's gone."

"WHAT?"

"And wherever he went, Lena's with him."

Reno suddenly got angry again. Tifa knew why. It's one thing to do something stupid and put yourself in danger. It's another matter completely when you involved somebody else. Particularly when that 'somebody else' was his darling daughter. "That child…" His words trailed off as if he couldn't trust himself to say another word.

"You've got to go look for them," Tifa told him. "They could be in danger, especially at this time of night. And Lena's only four years old. She must be so afraid."

"I wouldn't count on it," Cid commented. "That daughter of yours is something else. It'd take a lot to frighten her."

"That's more or less irrelevant," Reno muttered. "Cid, would you mind coming with me to look for them? I don't trust myself alone with my son right now."

"Nah, I don't mind. Just let me go tell Shera and I'll meet you downstairs."

Reno angrily crossed the room and picked up his jacket which he had deposited on their dresser. Slipping into it, he gave Tifa an furious glare. "I've had just about enough of this," he told her. "I can't stand this anymore. If he doesn't shape up, I'm sending him…hell…I don't know where. But I can't have him putting Lena Mae in danger like this. Once could maybe pass as an accident, but this is the second time he's gone and done something this…this…moronic. I can't wait around for a miraculous salvation from Wesley if, in the meantime, he's going to endanger my little girl."

Tifa couldn't argue with that. How could she? He was right. If Wesley was foolish enough to take Lena out on one of his nighttime escapades, he had another thing coming. Not only would Reno not stand for that, she wouldn't tolerate it either. "Alright," she said, forcing a level tone. "When you find him we'll sit down and discuss what we're going to do. It just, this time, we won't let him out of our sight."

"I can't even begin to describe how angry I am," he said, as he yanked his bedroom door open and strode into the hall. Tifa followed him and then waited at the bottom of the stair with Shera as their husbands were getting ready to leave. It was mere coincidence that the telephone rang then, but Reno looked like he was in no mood to be bothered by that just now.

Tifa shrugged and walked into the kitchen. She couldn't be as flippant about it as her husband. For all she knew, it was Wesley on the end. "Hello," she greeted as casually as she could.

"Hello…is this the Storm residence?"

Tifa froze. That voice. She knew that voice well. Too well. Nearly fourteen years ago. No. It couldn't be. How could he have gotten he number? They weren't listed, and Reno was careful about who he handed it out to. Well. Maybe she was wrong. Jumping to conclusions.

"Are you still there?"

"Who's this?" she asked, hoping beyond hope that it wasn't him. Anybody but him.

"That hurts, Mrs. Storm. After all the time we spent together. Insulting really. Regardless, I've missed you. Interesting subject you were. Very interesting. Yes. Yes. It was such a pity that you were taken from me so soon. No matter. We'll make up for that, won't we? Indeed. Indeed we will."

"What do you want, Manning?" There was no mistaking the fear in her voice. Blast. She still had scars from this man. The torture. She remembered it too vividly. She still dreamt about it. And her fear, she knew, was feeding him. That's why he was laughing. Cold. Maniacal. It sent cold shivers down her spine.

"Tifa?" Reno had heard. He'd been watching her to see if the phone call had been from Wesley. He knew right away that it wasn't. But something else had been wrong. He knew it by the way she tensed up. Now he knew why. "Give me the phone."

It was as if she hadn't heard him. "As fascinating as you were," he continued after the laughter subsided, "you're husband was far more intriguing. Quite a unique specimen really. His tolerance to pain was like none other I've seen before. In fact, only one specimen ever came close to rivaling that threshold."

She knew he was talking about her. "You sick fuck, Manning! How the hell did you get this number?"

He tsked at her for a few seconds before chuckling once again. What an unnerving laugh the man had. And his voice. There was something different about it too. Smoother. Softer. Dangerous even. When she'd last seen him, it had been different. At least back then, he'd sounded human enough. Now. He was something else entirely. Void of a soul.

"Curiosity," he said, but not to her. He was now talking to himself. "A very remarkable emotion. Perhaps I will study that next. Yes. Yes. Would be a pity not to. And there's so much to do. I must still perfect my studies on pain. Sleep teaching. Yes. Yes. That's what I'll do with...them. Perfection. Yes. Yes."

"Manning! Answer me damn it!"

Again. More laughter. "You ask how I got your number?" He let it hang there for a few seconds. To build anticipation? Perhaps. Or maybe he expected her to answer. She didn't. And when he realized that, he continued. "Quite simply, really. Amazing how well persuasion works."

"Who gave it to you?"

"And when persuasion fails," he continued as though she'd never said anything, "torture works wonders too. Yes. Yes. Torture works endless wonders. So, you ask how I got your number? I'd be glad to tell you. I got it…from your daughter."

The world seemed to stop. Tifa's eyes flashed wide. She stopped breathing. No. He was lying. He had to be lying. There was no way he had Lena Mae. No way in hell. But then, why was she so afraid all of a sudden? Because she knew he was telling the truth. She only wished he wasn't.

Her whole body shook. Helpless. So utterly helpless. The sick, demented man had her daughter. Her only daughter. Her flesh and blood. Oh, he was going to hurt her. Maybe even kill her. Oh God. No! Not again! Not Lena Mae. She was too young. She'd only just begun to live. It wasn't fair. What kind of man would torture a four year old girl! And why her daughter? Why Lena Mae? Tifa shut her eyes tight. They were burning. Rage. Horror. Everything. She couldn't take it. Why couldn't she move?

She hadn't noticed now that Cid was leading her back into the living room. Hadn't noticed that Reno had taken the phone from her. All she did was stare. But she wasn't really looking at anything. He had her daughter. What could she do? Nothing. She didn't even know where to begin.

"Is she alright?" Manning asked, somehow knowing that Reno had taken the phone. "I said something to upset her, didn't I?"

"He's got her!" she suddenly shrieked. "He's got Lena Mae! Reno! He tortured her!" Tears had erupted from her eyes, and she'd gotten up. Cid grabbed her around the waist and held her still. "We've got to get her! We've got to get her away from him!"

"Interesting," was all Manning said. "But she's only half right. That's what you get from assuming. It was my fault really. I didn't give her enough data to relate the story to you correctly. Yes. I have your daughter. Make no mistake about that. But I didn't torture her. Not yet. But I will. Yes. I will. No. I tortured the boy who calls himself Wesley."

Reno gasped. His knees gave way and before he knew it, he was on the kitchen floor. "No. Manning. No." He shook his head. It was a lie. It had to be. Not his children. Not his children. "No. You can't have them." But even as he said it, the truth sank in. And it was a damned hard truth to accept. "My son. You..."

"He's alive. Don't worry. I have uses for him yet. And until they've run out, his life is guaranteed. But. These are the first experiments I've conducted on children. There's no telling how long their bodies can withstand. Especially the girl. So young. So innocent. So afraid. She hasn't stopped screaming. Does it pain you to hear?"

"What do you want, Manning?" he asked, getting to his feet, pacing the kitchen in a panic. "I'll get you anything. Anything in the world. Just let them go."

"I have what I want. Yes. Yes. Fourteen years ago, you ruined my experiment. This is retribution. I'm not calling to set ransom. No. I'm calling to torture you. You see, fourteen years, I've learned. Learned that mental torture is much more satisfying than any physical torment. You couldn't imagine my satisfaction now. Yes. Yes. I want you to suffer, Reno. And you will. How tragic. Really. To go from having two children to none in a matter of one day. Tragic."

"Manning. Don't you hang up! Don't you dare hang up." He heard the laugh of the deranged man fade away, and then the click. "Manning! MANNING!" No use. He was gone. "DAMN IT!" Reno screamed, throwing the phone across the kitchen, ripping the cord out of the wall in the process.

Tifa was still in hysterics, and now Cid was torn. Tifa needed him. But Reno. How long would he stay like that? Still. Silent. It wouldn't be long before he exploded just like she had. And it would be damned more destructive.

Tengoko: Like I said, it was hard writing this chapter. And on the re-read, I learned why. That's a hard emotion to write. Love is easy. Pain is easy. But the feeling you get when your child is taken. It goes without saying that I've never experienced that before. Which is why I really, really want feedback.
And now, here's what I wanted to ask you:
Like I've said before, I've grown rather attached to this story. So, I was thinking of turning it into a series. You know, telling Yuffie's story, Vincent's, etc. But, tie them all together. What would you all think of that? Good idea or no? Please respond. I've been torturing myself over this for a while now, and then it came to me. Ask you guys.