Reno slammed open the door to the cafeteria, or slammed it as much as a swinging door can be slammed. He stood in the doorway, searching for the porcupine-haired idiot. Unfortunately he stood there too long and was hit in the face as the door swung close.

Pushing it open again, this time slower and with less anger, he walked into the cafeteria. A few people were looking curiously at him; he had just hit himself with the door after all. A glare from him was all it took for them to quickly look away and go on with their lunches.

Spotting the double-crossing asshole sitting at a table so innocently, Reno clenched his fists and stalked over to him. Zack saw him coming and felt a combination of guilt and dread hit him like a chocobo running at full speed.

"Hey there man, how's it going?" Zack asked, hitching a smile onto his face. Reno gave a tight smile and sat down opposite of him.

"Oh, I'm just fine. Except for the small fact that I was blamed for what happened to Seph yesterday," Reno said in a chilling voice. He was in complete 'scary Turk' mode. Most people who had the misfortune of bearing witness to this often peed their pants.

But Zack was made of stronger stuff. He wouldn't give anything away just because Reno was acting like that.

"Why? Tseng has to know that you would never do something like that to Seph," Zack said, trying to look surprised and upset for him.

"Oh, he realized that eventually, but Seph still thinks it was me. You wouldn't know why he would think that, would you?" Reno asked, leaning forward to rest his forearms on the table.

"What would make you think I would know why he thinks that?" Zack asked, looking to the side a little. Nope, he wouldn't give anything away.

"I just thought he would confide in you, as you are his second-in-command," Reno said, staring at Zack intently.

"Sorry, but he hasn't said why he thinks it was you," Zack lied, looking back at him and feeling slightly bad, but rationalizing that it was for the best. If he told the truth, Reno would definitely kill him.

"Really? Are you absolutely sure that you have no idea who woulda told him it was me?" Reno asked, leaning forward until his upper body was over the table.

"I'm sure. If I did I would tell you, wouldn't I?" Zack asked.

"Obviously you wouldn't. You see, I know you told Seph it was me. I saw your face before you left me and Tseng yesterday," Reno whispered. His eyes had narrowed into slits and he was giving Zack a look that would make even Seph nervous.

Zack stared in horror at Reno. He hadn't thought that Reno was paying attention to him. And even if he was, how would he know it was Zack who had passed the blame onto him?

It was times like these that Zack truly understood why Reno was a Turk. He was way too smart for his own good.

"Wh-what? I didn't…I would never tell Seph it was you," Zack stammered out. He looked around for a possible escape route.

"I can't believe you would do this to me! You claim to care about others, but obviously you don't!" Reno growled. Zack looked back at him in shock.

"What? Of course I care about you, you're my friend! I just…panicked, and your name just kind of came out," Zack explained.

"You care about me? If that was true you would've told Seph it was you!" Reno said trying to keep himself from yelling. He went to get up, but Zack grabbed his arm to stop him. "Let go of me."

"No, not until you listen to me," Zack said keeping a tight hold on Reno's arm

"Why would I want to listen to someone who takes drugs to keep up the pretense of being happy?" Reno sneered. The look of hurt on Zack's face made him smile even more. "Don't act so surprised. There's no way anyone could be that fucking cheerful, and if they are, they're taking drugs."

"I do not take medication to make myself happy," Zack ground out. "Just because you aren't ever happy doesn't mean the rest of us aren't"

"And what makes you think I'm never happy? I've never been more fuckin' happy since I stopped being your friend," Reno said, his voice rising.

"Please, when I met you, you were just some pathetic kid fresh from the slums," Zack said, his voice also rising.

"At least I don't hide behind a mask of happiness!" Reno yelled, jumping to his feet.

As everyone in the cafeteria abandoned their lunches to stare at the fight, Tseng and Seph stood from their table and looked at the arguing men.

"Don't say that!" Zack yelled back, jumping up too. "What would street trash now about it anyway?"

Reno looked like he had been slapped in the face. He was very sensitive about the fact that he came from the slums, and for Zack to bring it up twice was too much.

Tseng heard Zack and started to walk over to them. He didn't want Reno to do something stupid and attack the man. In a face-to-face fight, a Turk didn't have a chance against the mako enhanced SOLDIER.

"I am not street trash!" Reno yelled, his hands curling into fists.

"You coulda fooled me with the way you talk and act," Zack retorted.

"Ya think you're better than me? I may act immature, but at least I'm actually happy. I wouldn't doubt that you're sad and alone behind that smile of yours," Reno said in a stage whisper.

Seph, who had followed Tseng, couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why were they attacking each other like this? And why was Reno accusing Zack of being falsely happy?

"You're nothing but a slum rat. Why don't you go back to where you belong?" Zack asked.

Tseng froze when he heard Zack say that. He wouldn't say that. He wouldn't sink that low, right? Tseng thought.

Reno let out a growl and jumped across the table. He slammed into Zack and they both went crashing to the floor. Before he could properly show Zack just how mad he was, he was pulled up by the collar of his jacket.

He turned to see who would pull him away before he was done beating Zack to a pulp. Tseng was standing behind him, sill holding onto his jacket. Seph, meanwhile, was picking Zack up off the floor.

Tseng stepped in front of Reno and looked at Zack with disapproval written all over his face.

"You need to keep your employee under control," Tseng said to Seph in a clipped tone.

"I would say that you need to keep yours under control, seeing as how he attacked first," Seph replied in an equally cool tone.

"Reno," Tseng said as he gave Seph and Zack one more look and turned to go.

Reno jumped a little from the abruptness in his leader's voice. Glaring at Zack, he followed Tseng out of the cafeteria. Zack watched them leave and then turned to look at Seph.

"Thanks for…getting him off me," Zack said in a low voice, uncomfortably aware that everyone was still looking at them.

Seph remained silent, still staring at the spot where Tseng and Reno had disappeared. Suddenly he made a motioning movement towards the door and started to walk away. Zack, surprised by the sudden movement, hurried to catch up.

-------

Reeve walked into the lunchroom the next day to notice something different. He wasn't sure what it was just yet, but there was something. As he stepped from the lunch line it hit him.

The cafeteria was divided in two; the Turks on one side and the SOLDIERs on the other. Furious looks kept passing between the two groups. Reeve looked around for the department heads. It took a few seconds of searching, but he found them; at different tables.

In fact they were sitting as far away from each other as possible. He wondered what had happened to split the two groups, while they were never buddy-buddy, they were never openly hostile towards each other either.

-------

The civilians in the building were getting nervous. Every time a Turk passed a SOLDIER, there were glares and threats thrown back and forth. A couple of times an actual fight had broken out in the hallway.

The employees didn't know what had caused the sudden enmity between the two factions, but it was affecting everyone. The secretaries refused to walk down the halls alone now. And God help the poor soul that had to deliver a message to SOLDIER from the Turk's office, or vise versa.

If things had been bad working for ShinRa before, it was pure hell now.