Addiction

Disclaimers: All Final Fantasy characters are owned by Hiromichi Tanaka and square Enix and are all copied without permission. I have made this story for fun and not profit.

Writer's Note: I had been re-watching the FF7 movie 'Advent Children' and I got a feel of how some of the characters might act.. While my story 'Christmas Miracles' may have caused mixed feelings, especially with how I had written Reno's character, I will do my best to do a better job this time around.. If anyone wants to read, may continue onward. (Rated for referencing substance abuse)

Prologue

Reno impatiently tapped his foot as he waited for the elevator. Rude stood at his side as he waited for the elevator to reach their floor.

"C'mon, couldn't we just take the helicopter?"

Rude turned to look at him.

"Is that your answer to everything?"

"Well, it's better than just waiting on our a$$es for the d*mn elevator!"

Rude let out a grunt in response and turned to look at the elevator again.

"I'm just sayin', we could just go to the heli-pad, we ARE on the top floor after all." Reno replied, crossing his arms.

"And how would we get down to the underground labs if we take the helicopter?" asked Rude theoretically.

"Ugh.. Ya just don't get it do ya?"

There was a soft ping as the elevator doors silently slid open.

"Well, it's about d*mn TIME.." Reno grumbled as the two stepped into the elevator. "I still think we should've taken the helicopter.."

The journey to the labs were as Reno had expected.. Long and boring. The tedium of the elevator ride didn't last for long however, as shots rang out from somewhere within the building. The elevator jolted to halt as the red emergency light sprung to life.

"Gah! GREAT! Just frickin' DANDY!"

Rude looked at him for a moment before turning to look at the buttons on the far wall near the door. He pressed one of the buttons, finding they didn't work.

"Screw THIS!"

Reno took out the Electro-Mag Rod and slammed it against the door to the elevator. There was a buzz of electricity as it made contact, causing the doors to momentarily open, revealing the elevator was now stuck between the fifth and fourth floors. Reno pushed the doors open a bit more and began hoisting himself up through the narrow opening. After inching his way through, Reno turned to reach down and help Rude up but jumped back as a round of shots zipped inches away from his head. He spun around to find the group Avalanche was racing toward him and he sprung to his feet.

"I don't got TIME for this sh*t!"

He jumped to the side as Barret fired another round, striking against the buttons on the wall, causing the elevator to spark to life once again. Rude ran toward the opening just as the doors slid shut.

"Guess I'll cya down there, partner.." Reno said.

He ducked as another round shot over his head.

"If I ever GET there with these dip***ts in the way.." he growled.

Reno jumped and dodged the shots, wincing as one of the bullets grazed his shoulder. He gritted his teeth as he gripped at it painfully. He used his speed to his advantage as he did his best to avoid the hail of bullets. Finding his chance at last, Reno dove to the side and sped down the hallway. It would take about an hour or so to reach the labs on foot.

By the time he reached the labs, he was gasping for breath. True he wasn't out of shape by any means, but he hate having to run long distance for too long. The door to the lab finally slid open and he walked inside, scowling as he saw Rude had been waiting for him.

"Glad to see you made it."

"Shut up.." Reno grumbled.

"I am happy to have you both here," Dr. Hojo grinned. "We were just about to begin."

He gestured to the girl being held in a large glass enclosure. Aerith sat on the stool that had been provided, her gaze that of sadness and unease.

"And what'd we need her for?" asked Reno.

"Why, she is the very last of the Ancients.." Dr. Hojo replied. "A rare find indeed. Of course her traits are not as strong as her pure-blooded mother, but having a half-blood should suffice."

The doctor turned toward Aerith, who had remained completely silent.

"Worry not my dear," Dr. Hojo smiled. "The time draws ever closer and shall soon be-"

KAH-BANG!

The doors to the lab exploded open to reveal Barret's arm-gun still smoking from the recent discharge.

"Hojo!" Cloud growled, readying his weapon. "This ends NOW!"

"Ugh.. Them again.." Reno grumbled.

He readied his Electro-Mag Rod, bolts of energy springing to life as Reno took a combative stance. Rude tightened his gloves in preparation of a fight. Cloud and the others charged toward into battle, Reno and Rude doing the same. They met in the middle as their weapons clashed, echoing throughout the room. Aerith stood from her seat and ran toward them, only to be stopped by the glass barrier. She could only watch as the battle took place before her.

Reno let out a cry of pain as he fell backward to the floor, hitting hard and rolling before managing to flip himself upright in a backward somersault. He cringed as pain shot up his back, causing him to stumble to his knees. After recovering a bit of his strength, Reno rose to his feet, feeling the pain running up and down his back. Nearby, Rude sped past Cloud, using his agility to grab hold of the blonde from behind. With one quick motion, he threw Cloud backward. Cloud let out a grunt of pain as his back struck against one of the many machines in the room, causing an alarm to blare throughout the room.

"No! You FOOLS!" Dr. Hojo shouted.

However, they ignored the doctor's shouts of protest as the battle continued. Barret fired more shots, trying his best to keep track of the Turks as they moved about the room at alarming speeds.

Rude charged toward Cloud again. However as he sped toward him, the blonde leapt to the side and swung the Buster Sword as hard as he possibly could. There was a loud crack, Rude was catapulted backward, sending him crashing into glass barrier which held Aerith captive, shattering it to pieces.

Reno spun around in shock toward the sound and felt a hard blow to his head. Tifa withdrew her fist as Reno collapsed to the floor. Cloud made his way over to Aerith, who carefully stepped over the shards of broken glass and being careful not to trip over Rude's unconscious form.

"Are you alright?" asked Cloud.

"Y-yes.. I-I'm fine.." Aerith replied, though she was a bit shaken by the whole ordeal.

Cloud nodded before turning toward the others.

"Let's go.."

With that said, Cloud and the others left the lab with Aerith in tow. Dr. Hojo stepped out from behind one of the machines, having begun gathering the solutions and substances he deemed important. As he made his way into the center of his mostly destroyed lab, The doctor looked over at the two Turks lying on the floor before glancing around the lab. While much of his work had been ruined, he was glad to have been able to salvage the few solutions and concoctions he had created. However, now that he no longer had the Ancient girl, he would need a new subject for his experiments. Dr. Hojo hummed in thought as he surveyed the unconscious red-head lying sprawled out of the floor.

"Both young and strong.." he muttered. "Perhaps he could prove useful.."

Dr. Hojo reached into the pocket of his lab coat and took out a needle. He tapped the air bubbles out of it carefully and squeezed some of the green tinged fluid out of the tip. Then, he stabbed it rather roughly into the base of Reno's neck. The pain caused him to cringe a bit and he grunted in pain. Dr. Hojo pulled the needle out and placed it back into his pocket before turning and leaving the room. He had a meeting to attend to.

It wasn't long before the two Turks began to stir. Rude slowly sat up, rubbing his head. Carefully he began removing the bits of glass that had become stuck in the suit, thankful the injuries of the glass shards weren't too severe. He glanced around to find he and Reno were the only ones left in the secret lab.

Rude quickly stood and made his way over to Reno who was still sprawled on the floor. He stooped down to pick Reno up, but he was already waking.

"Ugh.." he said, rubbing his head.

"It looks like they took the girl.." Rude replied.

"No, really?" Reno asked sarcastically.

He soon looked around and soon noticed the doctor was also missing.

"Looks like the Doc fled the scene as well.." he added.

Reno soon stood up and brushed himself off. He cringed at the pain in his back but managed to straighten himself up.

"Guess we blew it this time.." he finally muttered with a shrug.

Reno turned to look at the broken machinery once more.

"I'm guessing the Boss is gonna be giving us a lecture or whatever.."

"Indeed.. We should report to Tseng.."

"Ugh.. Tseng.. Tseng can go screw himself.." Reno grumbled

"And what is this about screwing?" said a new voice.

Reno immediately froze up as the all too familiar voice spoke from behind him. Reno turned around very slowly and gave a nervous smile as he took notice of the man in question standing there, disapprovingly tapping his foot.

"U-uh.. Oh.." Reno stammered out nervously.

"I suspect the mission had not gone well." Tseng replied, ignoring the comment Reno had made earlier.

"Uh, yeah.." Reno muttered scrubbing at the back of his head, cringing a little. "But we'll make up for that on the next job."

"I would hope so.. I expect you both to be at the meeting to speak of our next plan of action."

With that last parting shot, Tseng turned and made his way out of the room. Reno inwardly groaned. He had always hated going to meetings. After a moment or so, Reno let out a sigh and turned back to Rude who had not said a word the entire time.

"C'mon.. We better go.."

With that being said, the two Turks began to leave as well. As they left the lab however, Reno couldn't help but start to feel an unusual sensation rising within him.

Author's Note: This idea had come to mind while watching 'Advent Children' oddly enough.. I kept thinking.. What if Reno was exposed to the experiments? Leave a review if you wish to know more..

PS~ All mean and hateful comments will be deleted..