CookieKitten - This one has ALL the Turks in it! Muwahahaha! I am an evil genius, aren't I? Ahem. Anyways. And it also has Tifa and Cloud. And some scenes from da movie, yo. Haha. Reno talk is fun.

Raspberry Polar Bear - Reno would have drank the note and all... and then he'd get mad at her for not leaving a note. Pink Floyd is one of my favorite bands, and Arien's a little weird like that band, so all is well. Fugo's Purple Haze is from Jimi Hendrix, Giorno's Gold Experience is from Prince, Mista's Sex Pistols is from Sex Pistols, Buccierati's Sticky Fingers is from the Rolling Stones, and Narancia's Aerosmith is well, from Aerosmith.

ODST girl058 - People keep accusing of Arien being a Sue, and then being an anti-sue. I don't think Arien's that ugly, except she wears a scowl on her face a lot. But that doesn't mean she's ugly! Did you catch the Stand Names before Pink Floyd? If you did, you're awesome. If you didn't, you're still awesome.

NarcissisticRiceball - Nope, Reno and Arien aren't having a too easy relationship, but then, I didn't expect it to go easy. I mean, Vincent's love affair went down the toilet. Poor Vince. He was hot when he was a Turk. He's still hot. I want him as my brother. So I can come crying when my boyfriend is nasty to me and he can pat my head.

insanity - DAMN IT! I missed Cloud and Reno. I read two Doujins involving it too. If Reno was my boyfriend, I'd keep him out of my way, most likely he'd end up making a mess and I'd have to clean it up. Actually, that's how my boyfriend is. He managed to set Mac and Cheese on fire. That takes talent.

Here's da story, yo.


Chapter 20: Bad Karmas

Reno looked at the clock by the bed and groaned. It clearly read two thirty AM, and he had no clue why he woke up. The house was quiet; but then, no one was there. No one had been here except Reno every night for almost three weeks now. He was back at The Edge, all alone this time, not sure what he was going to do. Sure, it hurt him to be there, but it was a different kind of hurt, torn pride too. After all, Arie had just thrown him away. Like a piece of trash. That was all he was to her; a toy, a trash that could be easily thrown away. Last time, it was a forced separation, it wasn't her fault. This time, it was on purpose. The intention hurt like hell. What the hell did he do to deserve it? Wasn't he a faithful lover for once? Or was it some kind of a sick karma, gods' twisted joke?

He walked into the bathroom to wash his face, clear the sleepy haze and get some pills. His head was about to crack, he was sure of it. His sleepy hand opened the cabinet, managing to knock over some of the pill bottles in the process. Some of it just clattered, but one fell into the sink with a clang, the pills inside clattering against the plastic. He picked it up, and read the label, realizing that it was a prescription.

6158420DJD 02-14
DeVir, Arien Dr. Downers, Clinical
Apozepam 500mg 40 000-0000

Take one Capsule once a day

WARNING:

DO NOT take more than two pills within 24 hours
DO NOT take with alcohol
DO NOT take on empty stomach

Discard this medication one year after the date dispensed

Reno reread the label, then grinned. "Don't take it with alcohol, huh?" He muttered to himself. He was now wide awake. A year ago, if someone asked if he would ever do this, he probably would have replied a terse "fuck no". But right now, it seemed to be the release from the pain he was going through.

Slamming the medicine cabinet shut, he turned the bathroom light off and walked down to the kitchen, turned the lights on, where he rummaged through the cabinets and found the place where Arien stored the liquors. Some of them she used for cooking, some of them for drinking. He grabbed a bottle that said Chartreuse, uncorked it with a small pop. Then he sat down at the kitchen table.

Ever since she was gone, he felt like he had a big hole. He felt incomplete. He also felt a moron, because he was a Turk, and Turks weren't supposed to rely on anyone. But now, now with her gone, he felt that he relied a lot on her for mental support. Something friends couldn't really fill. Friends were buddies who drank with you and took you home when you got piss-ass drunk. But Arien was someone much more to him. Someone whom he didn't mind sharing his secrets, his pains with. And with her gone, well, he somehow doubted he could do kill someone without breaking. Damn it, he was breaking already.

He unscrewed the top of the pill bottle, shook out the contents. White capsules tumbled out, about thirty of them. Sleeping pills. He knew Arien took them when she couldn't sleep. They looked promising, as if they were promising him to bring Arien back. All he wanted now was her, just her, for her to be with him, to caress his forehead and whisper in his ear that this was all a bad dream, that she was there. Then maybe a soft kiss. Her mouth on his, her breaths on him, the soft feathery breaths.

God, this was probably why it said in the Turk guidelines to not get into serious relationships. Fuck.

Arien had left him. He had a hole in his heart.

He threw the pills into his mouth, then washed it down with the alcohol. Not sure what to do now, he left the open bottle of the alcohol on the table along with the pill bottle, and went back to the bedroom, where, for once, he was able to sleep without Arien haunting his dreams.


Trrrr, trrrr.

"Hey, you've reached Reno's cell! Lucky you, babe! Leave a message after the beep, and I'll get back… when I feel like it."

"Please say your message after the tone. Hit pound of hang up when you are finished," said the mechanical, feminine voice.

Tseng ignored Reno's cocky voicemail and hang up. Nobody was answering the landline, and Reno's phone was off; either that or he wasn't picking up. It was eleven, the sun was high in the sky, and Reno was supposed to be here two hours ago. Tseng knew Reno wouldn't be this late when they were going out on an assignment. No, something was up.

"Rude," Tseng turned to face the bald Turk, "go check on Reno. Something's up. You too, Elena."

The two Turks nodded wordlessly, and left. A minute later Tseng heard the car drive out, down the graveled path from Healin. Tseng sighed, and picked up the phone again.

"Oh Reno…"

In the meanwhile, the two Turks were at the front door, waiting for any reply from the inside after a a polite knock. Nothing came out. Rude rang the doorbell. No one answered.

"Maybe he isn't there."

Rude shook his head, pointed at the kitchen, where the light was on. Yes, Elena could admit, even Reno didn't leave the house with the kitchen lights on, windows open.

"He's in there?"

Nod. Rude picked out a paperclip and knelt on the stone steps, picking the lock. He wasn't as good as Reno, but he could still do it, if a bit slow and clumsy. A few minutes later and a small snick, Rude turned the doorknob. The door opened.

"Reno?" Elena called out. No answer.

"Reno, I'm coming in, okay? Rude's here too." Elena stepped into the clean, small house. She looked around; she had never been here before, but she could see that a woman used to live here. A woman, because everything was in place, and she did not see empty beer bottles and half-empty pizza boxes lying around. Used to, because everything was covered in a thin layer of dust. A painting adorned the wall to the right, a simple drawing of flowers in a vase. It was colored with gentle pastel colors, like violet, sky blue, and pink. Elena decided she liked the painting, then faced forward. There was a staircase leading upstairs.

She climbed the stairs quickly. The first door she opened was a bathroom; not something extravagant, but clean. She entered the bathroom, her nylon-clad toes sliding on the white tiles. There was a fogless mirror, hairbrushes, mouthwash, two toothbrushes, toothpaste… normal things one might find in the bathroom. The soap on the sink was dry. Nothing here to help her, Elena thought. She went out into the corridor, shutting the bathroom door behind. The next door seemed to be the bedroom. She turned the doorknob and went inside, only to find Reno slumped on the bed, head not quite on the bed. His arms were spread, his legs were haphazardly placed diagonally across the bed. His position looked awfully unnatural to be sleeping.

"Uh… Reno?" She touched his neck, then jerked back, stifling a small scream. He was cold.

"Rude! Rude!"

The big bald Turk came sprinting up, holding a green bottle in one hand and a pill bottle in the other. "What?"

"Reno… oh my god, Reno! He's dead!"

"Overdose. He probably needs to be pumped. Elena, call the ambulance." He showed her the bottles. "Apozepam overdose," Elena read. "That's a strong sedative."

Rude shrugged, and Elena realized that she was the only medical expert. "Rude, get blankets!" She ordered, realizing that Reno's life was quite literally in her hands, and dashed to the black phone at the bedside table.

"This is Elena Philips, requesting ambulance at 158 26th street! Drug overdose of 500 milligrams Apozepam, taken with alcohol."

"Roger that. Ambulance on the way."

Rude came back with blankets (he knew where blankets were, he crashed at this house before), with which Elena nearly suffocated Reno in. He was still cold, and ghostly pale. He was barely breathing.

"Reno, my god, Renaldo Miller," Elena wailed, "why did you have to do this? This is so irresponsible!"


"Doctor, how is he?"

"Miss. Philips, it's already a miracle he's living." The doctor removed his glasses, and wiped them on a cloth. Elena stole a peek at Reno, who was lying in bed, unconscious. Four different large machines were connected to him in some way or another, making soft beeping noises. With a tube stuck into his wrist and a plastic mask covering his nose and his mouth, he looked unusually weak to Elena. "He probably needs counseling, but Mr. Shinra had forbid that, and I can't argue with him. He got his stomach pumped, so to speak, and we're running tests to see if any of his organs are damaged. Surprisingly, none so far." The doctor replaced the thick-rimmed glasses on his nose. "He really is a strong one, isn't he? I'm surprised he lived this long. From the looks of the amount of digestion, he probably took them between 1 o'clock and 3 o'clock in the night, and a larger man than him would be dead."

"How many did he take, do you think?"

"I'd say about thirty pills, fatal amount by any means. As I said before, it's a miracle he's still breathing." Elena shot a sideway glance at the comatose form on the bed, wondering what that chain around his neck meant. She had seen that ring on the chain before, but could not quite remember where.

"Is he going to be alright?"

"I can't say for sure, Miss. Philips. But your medical knowledge helped in saving him, I say. Thank you."

"When can he get released?"

"We still have to run a few tests before we can release him into your custody, so I'd say a day or two. Who is he going to be released to?"

"Me."

"Then Miss. Philips, please ask at the front desk for release papers. You need to fill them out before Mr. Miller can be released into your custody."

"Thank you, Doctor."

The blue light filled her eyes again, and then, she knew. The same ring was on Arien's hand, the same, simple ring, adorned by one aquamarine. She heard someone move and stir, and then turned. She saw Reno sitting up on the bed, rubbing his temples.

"Aw, Elena, what the fuck." Reno's aquamarine eyes were unfocused. Elena noticed that Reno had nice collarbones, then swatted the thought out of her mind. She liked Tseng, not Reno, and Reno was NOT her type! But… he did look lonely and depressed. She pitied him, that's all. Nothing more.

Nothing more…

"Reno, why did you do that! That was very irresponsible, you know!" She said crossly.

"And I was so close too. Damn it. Fuck you, bitch." Reno glared at her angrily. Elena decided that the moment of that small twinge of affection was definitely not real.


Reno made a relatively quick comeback, or it appeared so, and for that, the rest of the Turks were thankful. No matter how haphazardly he behaved, he was still the ace, and Reno down meant half the Turks down. Elena didn't really want to admit it, but that was the truth. He seemed comfortable working with Rude. He seemed to be back to the ol' playa Reno again after the committed suicide, and sure enough, he was fooling around. Only Mr. Rudolph Richardson knew that Reno was trying to deny the fact that she ever existed after he and Elena quite successfully overthrew his plan to join the Lifestream.

"Hey Rude," Reno warbled as they walked down the street, "ya know the Cetra girl? What was her name, yo? The one Tseng had the world's most pathetic crush on?"

Rude didn't mention that Reno acted pretty pathetic when his girlfriend was around. The redhead had nightstick in one hand, a pistol in the other, and Rude would be a big liar if he said he didn't know Reno was trigger-happy. Not to mention that without Arien around, he really didn't care the consequences.

"Aeris Gainsborough," Rude replied.

"Yeah. That chick. Man, she was a looker is I ever saw one. The Tifa chick too, I mean, her jugs, they're like this big!" He approximated the size of Tifa's bust with his hands. "I bet she was a virgin."

Rude wasn't sure if Reno was referring to Aeris or Tifa in the last comment, thought that Aeris and any talk of sex was highly inappropriate, but he kept his mouth shut. He really didn't like the fact that his best friend was checking out his crush's rack either, but again, he kept his mouth shut.

"Hey, say… wait, isn't that one of the trios? Log, or somethin'?" Reno pointed to the distance. Rude wasn't sure if Reno missed the name on purpose, or just to be insulting. They must have been walking obliviously, because they were approaching the church and they could see a large man with silver short-hair in the distance, a small girl's hand in his. "Wow. Didn't know he went that way. I mean, I like chicks, but not that young, yo. Molesting kids are… ick." Reno scrunched up is feline face and exaggerated his disgust. "Here comes the Chocobo Head. I say we hide. The fucking douche doesn't really like us. Still thinks we're out to kill the Planet. Fuckin' idiot."

Rude nodded in agreement, and they hid themselves amidst the rubble that used to be the glory of Shinra Company. They could see the building they worked in everyday in the distance, now only suitable as the world's biggest junkyard. Reno could almost see Arien watching him in her office as he ran down the hall for his life, Elena hot on his heels… stop thinking about her, damn it! She was gone, she left him to rot. Apparently he was about as good as a piece of trash for her. That fucking bitch. All those pretenses of loving him and giving herself up. Liar. Fucking, rotten shit.

By sheer dumb luck, the rubble the two Turks were hiding behind happened to be located in a position where they could hear everything that went within Aeris' church. They heard footsteps, heavy boots on wooden planks, then someone running, then the Chocobo Head calling Tifa's name. Then muffled talks, then Chocobo Head swearing, then groaning, then a thump.

"Wow. That sex lasted long," Reno muttered sarcastically. "Guess Jug Chick knocked Chocobo out. Maybe he wasn't big enough for her." Throwing that last lewd comment to no one in particular, he grinned. He peeked out from the rock they were hiding behind. "Hey, they're both knocked out. Let's check it out, yo."

Rude thought it was one of the worst ideas ever to cross his path, but again, he kept his mouth shut. Even a worse idea was to refuse Reno's ideas. That meant you were committing an assisted suicide.

"Hey, they're knocked out," Reno's voice floated in the air. "I don't think they were having sex. I mean, Cloud does have his head up against her crotch, but it'd be awfully hard to do oral like that, yo. More like Tifa got knocked out first."

"We better carry them back," Rude said, ignoring Reno's excessively sexually explicit comments.

"Carry back where? Oh, the bar." Reno shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, okay, yo. But I get the chick."

Tifa was much heavier than Arien, Reno found out, but Arien was underweight, and she definitely did not sport a bust the size of Tifa's. In fact, Arien was borderline cleavage-less. Sure, she had gorgeous legs and a nice, slim waist and a much toned butt, but when it came to her torso she was hopeless. Reno had to carry the unconscious, if very beautiful, woman on his back, walk a full length of the street, and get the woman in the car. By the end of the task, he was sweating and swearing, and Rude was doing no better.

"Jesus, these two are about as heavy as moogles," Reno grumbled as he pushed the key into the socket and turned it right, making the engine rev into life. "Okay, Seventh Heaven, where they serve the best set of jugs in the world, really, Rude… where was that place?"

After reaching the place meant another havoc of carrying Cloud and Tifa up the stairs. The two Turks dumped their luggage quite unceremoniously onto the beds.

"How long do we stay here?" Reno asked.

"…"

"Right. Let's hope the Chocobo Head wakes up soon, 'cause I really gotta go take a piss."

Reno had used the bathroom and had already returned when Cloud finally stirred. He looked to his right, saw Tifa lying onto the next bed comatose, then got off the bed. He stared down at the still Tifa's form for a few seconds, voiceless.

"You were really heavy, yo." Reno wanted to add some constructive advice to lose SOME GODDAMN WEIGHT, but he kept his mouth shut.

"You were living with the kids, right?" Rude asked. He was talking about Denzel and Marlene.

"It's empty," Reno chimed in.

Cloud looked down.

"You fine with it?" Rude asked.

"I…" Cloud did not continue. He did, however, to look back at Tifa.

"Hmmh," Reno sighed. "You're annoyingly slow, yo."

Reno walked out, Rude following suit. Rude's gloved hand slammed the door behind him.


"Hey Rude, still having hots for the Tifa chick?"

Reno and Rude were walking back to Seventh Heaven, after Rufus' orders to check up on the two. After all, their goals were the same, and Rufus figured that it'd be less damage to them if he just let Cloud beat up the trio. But in order for Cloud to beat up the trio, Cloud needed to not look like a chocobo about to get minced. Elena and Tseng were still looking for the missing kids, both in Wutai and now in The Edge, along with the mystery of the world REUNION scribbled on the piece of paper. And so, Reno and Rude it was. And the blondie and the Wutaian had come up with sufficient answers. The redhead and the baldie were messengers for the news too.

The two Turks entered the bar silently, went up the stairs, and were standing in the room where Tifa and Cloud were talking, posed, for quite a while. Reno had his arms crossed, Rude hands on hips.

"Dilly dally, shilly shally…" Tifa was saying.

"Dilly dally, shilly shally!"

"When are you gonna stop dragging around that big hunk of guilt, yo?"

Tifa and Cloud looked up in surprise, suddenly realizing that they weren't alone. Reno honestly wondered what the hell they would do if they weren't just talking but engaged in full blown sex. Ah well. That would be a good show.

"Couldn't you find them?" Tifa asked urgently.

"They took them away… had witnesses, yo."

"Where did they go?" Cloud asked, sitting up more properly.

"The Forgotten City… a hideout."

Tifa and Cloud looked down again.

"Please… can you take care of it?"

Reno moved his head a little. The two Turks awaited Cloud's next words. Cloud stood up and announced, "I'm going to go talk to Rufus."

"Don't run!" Tifa pleaded. "I understand… even if you find the children, you might not be able to do anything. Something might happen that we can't take back." She raised her arm, then brought the fist t herself. "You're afraid of that, aren't you? But please, accept a lot more things!" She leaned forward, her right hand digging into the duvet. "A burden? Heavy? Well, there's no helping that, it's a heavy burden!"

Reno gestured Rude: hey, let's get the hell outta here, it's gonna be Miss. Lockheart's philo-fucking-sophical lecture. The two moved toward the door.

"Unless you want to live all alone, you have to deal with that!" Tifa was saying. Reno knew that well. His mouth twitched a little. At that comment, he stopped, turned around, and looked at the two. Rude looked back as well.

"You don't want to be alone, do you?" Tifa was asking Cloud, who was looking away from her. "Even though you never answer, you always have the phone with you!"

Reno, who had his right hand hiding his mouth, lowered his hand. His expression was feline and undecipherable.

"You go to the hideout, yo," he said. With that, he left without looking back, Rude following him.


Arien DeVir realized, in her horror, that she wasn't really in control of her body. No, quite the contrary. She wasn't in control of her body at all. What the hell was going on?

She tried to move her arms, and her arms refused to move as her brain ordered. Her leg did not take the step forward. Instead, she was moving to the left, a small knife in her hand. Her gunblades were in the locker. You weren't allowed to go in front of the boss armed.

Giorno was reading something in middle of the hall. Fugo was talking to someone else. To her dismay, she kept on walking up to her new boss. What was going on?

"Morning, Arien. What…" He barely managed to catch her hand as the knife came sailing through the air. It cut a thin line on his cheek. Her eyes rolled. What the hell?

Her mouth opened as Giorno fought back. "What the…" he was gasping. "This isn't a woman's strength!" After struggling for a few minutes, he let go of her wrist. The cut on his cheek got deeper, before Giorno smashed her hand against the nearby pillar, then crushed his mouth against hers. The golden metallic robot, his stand, immediately moved, as Arien struggled. Giorno placed an arm around her shoulder, ensuring that she would not break free.

"Mffggggh!" The stand sucked out a long snake out of her mouth. She felt her esophagus being rubbed quite brutally by the scales, and nearly screamed, both in pain and disgust. With a swift click Mista's gun was out, and the snake was torn by the bullets that assailed out from Mista's pistol.

Arien had tears in her eyes, and was gasping. That was the oddest, most disgusting sensation she ever had in her life, including the mako treatments and when she got hit by Reno with Shinra cafeteria's potato salad that was a week old. Giorno placed a hand on her back. "Are you alright?" he asked politely.

"Yes…" she spat out some blood into her hand. Her throat felt raw. "What just happened?"

"Someone had you tagged. Someone wants our blond boy's life," Fugo said nonchalantly. "I guess this means guarding duties when we go out."

Arien wasn't sure if this was a coincidence or she just had a bad karma and was condemned to guarding duties for her life.