His body was sore.
That was the most vast understatement of the year.
Drawing in a deep breath, he quickly regretted it, a coughing fit the reward for his efforts as the cheap mattress protested beneath, creaking out its concern to the other residents of Healen as Reno rolled over onto his side and shuddered from the sensation of his stomach flipping end over end, the shock of pain nauseating.
Fuck my life.
...
Why didn't they heal me yet?
He heard a male voice at the foot of the bed, but he couldn't quite pinpoint which of the three it could've been. Or was it a new one? Or was it just the pain dulling the understanding of who it was?
"Reno?"
Rufus didn't have much steam left no way.
Wonder if he's still down from the shit with Kadaj.
He hit that net hard.
"Reno."
Definitely Rufus. He's up that quick?
Reno opened his eyes and attempted to roll over onto his back again so he could look in that direction, but he didn't make it, stuck on the nagging pain that he'd figured out was in his ribcage.
"Stop trying to move."
Reno jerked from a shock of panic when Rufus just appeared, having not heard him approach.
He's wearin' different clothes. I don't understand.
Rufus leaned over, taking hold of his Turk's shoulders to help him roll over onto his back, eyes searching the pallor of the other man's face before settling on the ethereal green eyes.
"What's goin' on? Why are you up? You need t'be in bed."
No Geostigma… Not a single speck on your face no more…
"Did you forget?"
"Forget?"
"The rain. It healed the Geostigma. Too bad it didn't heal the breaks in your body."
"I don't understand." Reno huffed out a sigh, looking past Rufus' face to stare at the ceiling above him. "Where the others at?"
"In their beds and hurt like you. In a twisted turn of fate, I'm finally the healthiest in our home." A humorless smile crooked one corner of Rufus' mouth upward. "After all, I didn't get stomped like a roach in the street."
Reno grunted, protesting, "But that don't mean you're a hundred-"
"Well, what would you have me do?" Rufus straightened. "None of you are well. I have no ether, and I'm having trouble getting a certain Mr. Strife to deliver."
"Y'mean that sorry piece'a shit-"
"Likely wrapped up in his own family matters. Remember, we're just Shinra." He cocked his head to the side, blue dangerously glittering as his eyes traveled over Reno's form hidden beneath the blankets. "We are the roaches in the street, hm?" His gaze snapped back up to Reno's face. "If I don't hear from any of the other services in Edge that I've contacted, I may end up having to go out by myself."
"Y'can't do that!" Reno's body reacted from honed practices that had become instinct, and despite the pain, he sat up straight, his breath huffing out in short pants, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. "Y'can't go without one'a us!"
"I can, and I will if I need to do so."
The bored tone pissed Reno off, and he reached to rip the blankets down off of his chest. "No you can't! You ain't topped up, an' you prob'ly don't have many bullets left after the fall."
"None of that should be your concern. In any matter, you won't be the one to escort me if I need one." Rufus stepped closer to the bed, placing one hand on the back of Reno's neck, the other on his chest to try and ease him back down.
Reno didn't struggle, taking a ragged breath as he accepted the help to lie backward, his head throbbing when the nape of his neck hit the pillow. "Who?"
"I don't know. But it will be neither you nor Rude. Your bodies are broken."
"What 'bout Tseng or Laney?"
"Not Elena. And likely not Tseng."
There was a pressure in Reno's chest as tears stung his eyes, the bleakness of the situation mixed with the anguish of his condition causing him to snap at Rufus. "Then who?!"
Rufus sighed. "I don't know. None of you are in any condition to escort or protect."
"But y'can't go alone. Rufus, they'll skin you alive if you show up in Edge. They're gonna blame you f'what happened, no matter what you did, say, or do. They're gonna believe y'started all of it. Y'remember what the news was sayin' before all this shit started, yeah?
Holdin' Shinra liable? Makin' us pay?"
"Good thing Shinra isn't a person, eh?" Rufus smiled down at him again, but the pleasantry didn't reach his eyes. "If he was, he'd be in some trouble."
"Stop your shit." His hand shakily rose and gripped into the thin white material of the blond's t-shirt, hanging there so Reno could feel the smooth, rhythmic breathing.
He hadn't felt it in so long nor had he seen color to Rufus' face. No coughing fits? No resignation in his President's eyes?
No, there was a determination present that had been nearly extinguished the last time Reno remembered gazing into Rufus' eyes; time spent in bed contemplating one's own death tended to weather away resolve and spirit.
It was as if Rufus had been resurrected, and though his frame still wasn't whole from the experience with illness having ravaged his body, the fact remained that Rufus was worlds better off than he and, from what Reno remembered of the fights and the looks passed between his comrades after everything, the other three.
Vincent Valentine wasn't exactly known for his healing prowess, and Reno remembered thinking that Tseng and Elena had been running on fumes, duty, and defiance.
The feeling of warm hands around his wrist stirred the redhead from his memories.
Rufus had wrapped his hands around Reno's and brought it closer to his chest. "Everything will be fine."
"How long we been back here? I don't remember comin' back."
"You passed out during transport. It's been four days."
"Four days?!"
"Calm down." Rufus gently shook the Turk's hand to detach from his shirt, putting it back down on the bed before frowning down at the misshapen front of his shirt, tugging the edges and wiggling the material to try and flatten it again. "Four days. I used all of my ability on the four of you the first day, but you didn't wake.
They've been in and out of consciousness.
I've been slowly trying to recover my magical ability over the past four days, but sleep isn't doing the trick, and ethers are a pipe dream out here.
That's why I have no choice if no one calls back by tonight. Then again, I don't know if it's simply me or that Strife Delivery Service is just out of business at the moment.
I tried your phone, my phone, and the other three. I even tried the Healen landline, and he's not answered."
"What about the bar? It's got a phone-"
"No matter about that. I refuse to beg for help from people that put us in this situation to begin with."
"You can't go without help! You don't gotta go at all! We'll eventually heal on our own."
Rufus shook his head. "Tseng and Elena are bad, much worse than Rude and yourself, and I'm worried that if I don't go, they'll die of infection if left to heal with sleep.
Sometimes spit, determination, and rest won't fix the world, and I feel this is one of those times.
But you don't know all of the circumstances."
"Circumstances?" Reno managed to wriggle himself into a comfortable position, eyes on Rufus' face.
His gaze was distant as he stared out of the sunny window. "They were nearly tortured to death."
A wash of cold drenched Reno's heart like a bucket of water had been dropped over his head. "Tortured?"
"Mmhm. And yet they made it back in time to do as they do." His tone sounded weak as he looked out of the window and into the wastelands beyond. "When I had no intention of surviving the fall, they were determined that I would.
Broken bones, torn muscles, and countless other injuries didn't stop them from their duty.
Danger won't stop me from mine."
"That ain't your job."
"Oh? And here was ignorant me. I didn't know you had the job of doling out and changing responsibilities."
"You ain't a Turk. You're the President. We're supposed t'be this way-an' you're supposed to survive. It don't matter if we die-"
"Yes it does!" The rage in Rufus' voice erased the usual silkiness, leaving desperation as his eyes snapped back down to Reno's face. "Yes… It does." The blond repeated it as if correcting himself, tucking his hands behind his back so Reno wouldn't see them shake.
But was it rage, fear, or heavy concern?
All of them.
"Rufus, c'mon."
"I'm not completely useless. I'm not just a figurehead that hires and fires. In fact… This has nothing at all to do with the company.
Shut up and let me do something useful for once."
"Promise me you won't go alone."
"Will it make you stop insisting?"
Worry ripped through Reno's chest, and he tried to sit up again.
"Stop that." Rufus rushed forward again to push down on his shoulders. "Stay down."
"You ain't goin' alone!"
"Fine. Then I won't go alone."
"Promise me, stupid."
"I promise I won't go alone. Reno please lie back down."
The urging made Reno slowly comply, a hiss let out into the air above his bed as concern left his chest feeling heavy. Then again, he had a sickly feeling that was physically more than concern.
He had a bad feeling about that promise but an equally as bad feeling about his own health.
He knew when Rufus Shinra purred a lie just to make someone comply, but Reno didn't really have any way of helping, considering he could barely move without pain.
If what Rufus said was true, Rude wasn't in any better shape to stop him, and Tseng and Elena were out of the picture. "Where's my phone?"
"Right there." Rufus gestured to the bedside table. "I keep it charged."