Disclaimer: Still own nothing...not even a scrap of paper with their names on it.
A/N: After much procrastinating and verbal abuse from corncob, I finally wrote my chapter. Why she's so anxious for this to be posted, I don't know...seeing as how it's now her turn. Now I get to do the abusing...yay! Oh, and enjoy this extremely short chapter!
"There has to be something in here!" Reno growled in frustration. He chanced a look at his watch; he had been searching for ten minutes. He had to get out of there soon, for his own safety.
Pulling open yet another filing cabinet he saw it; a file folder with Sephiroth written in small block letters on it. Reno flipped through it quickly and smirked at the content. This was even better than he had thought it would be. He looked around and decided that everything looked more or less in the right spot.
He walked over to the door and opened it, looking up and down the hall. He stepped out of the lab quickly and headed in the direction of the elevators. Turning the corner he froze. Hojo.
Crap, crap, crapcrapcrapcrapcrap! Of all the damn luck! Reno put on his best 'who me?' face as he passed by. Hojo stared at him until he had rounded the next corner.
He looked from the spot that the red-head had disappeared to the door he had come from and back again. Suddenly he took off at a sprint down the hall. If that idiot touched anything…well, Hojo wouldn't have a shortage of play things.
He ran into his beloved lab and skidded to a halt, breathing hard. Everything looked like it was in its appropriate spot. But you could never be too sure about these kinds of things. Hojo went to one of the cabinets and pulled out his cleaning supplies. As he started the long process of sterilizing his lab, he thought of ways to cause the most pain to his latest specimen.
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Zack walked into the elevator, eager to get away from the glaring group of Turks in the lobby. He reached out to push the button for floor 66, but he stopped short. He leaned closer to see what had been drawn next to the numbers.
Another 6, making it floor 666. Great, this was just great. Hardly five minutes into the work day and already things were looking down. He mashed in the button and tried to rub the offending number off before he reached his destination.
By time the elevator stopped he had managed to smear the third six enough that it was hardly recognizable. Satisfied with his work, he stepped out of the lift and started down the hall to his office.
Halfway there he stopped. There was something taped above the water fountain. He stepped up to it and let out a cry. It was a picture of Seph…only not.
It was a little Seph. A little Seph hooked up to about five different machines. He looked so small and defenseless. Who would do this kind of thing? Before he could give it much thought his mind leapt to another question. Had Seph seen it?
Zack ran all the way to Seph's office and didn't even bother to wave at the secretary.
"Sir, you can't go in there!" she yelled after him. He ignored her and pushed open the door. He stopped short when he saw the blank look on Seph's face. He was holding something in front of him.
"Seph, you okay man?" Zack asked. The general acted like he hadn't heard anything and kept staring at the paper. Zack slowly walked up to the desk and circled behind Seph's chair.
Seph was holding a picture identical to the one he had found. Zack waved a hand in front of the man's face and jumped back, expecting Seph to react violently. When nothing happened he tried tapping him on the shoulder. Silence.
Zack had seen Seph not talk for hours at a time, but there had always been a sign of life to the man. Now there was nothing. In fact, you could hardly tell he was breathing unless you looked very, very, very closely.
Zack decided that if something was going to be done, he was the one that had to do it. Seph didn't look like he could stand up to a napkin. Giving him one more look of sympathy, he ran from the office. He was going to find every last one of those pictures
and tear them apart.
Then he was going to tear Reno apart for doing this.
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Reno laughed as he walked into the elevator. Business was a little slow in the office today, so he kept taking side trips to check on the picture he had taped up in the elevator. When the doors opened, he quickly shut his mouth.
There were four other employees in there and he didn't want more people to think he was unhinged than already thought that. He worked his way into the back corner and smiled when he heard their topic of discussion.
"Can you believe Seph was such a cute kid?" a woman with a tight bun asked.
"I can barely believe Seph was ever a kid," the other woman, wearing a disgusting pink suit, said.
"Why do you think he was attached to those machines?" a tall, burly man asked.
"I always heard rumors that he wasn't a person and actually a science project of Hojo's," the fourth person remarked. He was one to talk, he looked like Frankenstein.
"Really? Well that would explain his strength," the burly man said thoughtfully.
"And his hair. I mean, what normal person has hair like that?" the woman with the bun quipped.
Jealous much? Reno thought. As he continued to smirk, the conversation took a turn for the worse.
"Always knew there was something wrong with him," 'Frankenstein' said.
"Now we know why he's so screwed up," the lady in pink commented. Reno couldn't believe they were saying this about Seph. Whatever he was expecting the reaction to the pictures to be, it wasn't this.
"He looks so sad in the picture," the words floated back to Reno as the four people got out.
Reno slumped against the wall and rubbed a hand over his face. He was such an ass! How could he be so stupid? Why would he think this was a good idea? Sure, he was pissed at Zack for what he had done to Tseng, but that was no reason to take it out on Seph. And especially not like this.
He slid down the wall and sat there with his legs stretched out in front of him. The doors opened again and Reeve walked in. He glanced down at the Turk but said nothing. Before the doors could close, Reno saw a distressed Zack running down the hall grabbing pictures off the wall. He already had a very impressive stack.
"I'm assuming this is your work?" Reeve asked without looking him.
"Why would you say that?" Reno asked sharply.
"No reason. It just seems like something someone would do for revenge," this time Reeve did look at Reno. He gave the younger man a look of loathing.
The rest of the trip was made in silence and Reno heaved a sigh of relief when Reeve stepped out on his floor.
Deciding it was close enough to quitting time, Reno pressed the button for the lobby. As he walked from the elevator, he turned around and snatched the picture from the wall.
Gaia, he needed a drink.
A/N: Yup, there it is. Not the greatest, but you get what I give ya, and you better like it. Any-o-ways...review please! And we really really really don't want another 'poor Reno' comment. He's a jerk in this chapter...and PLEASE give us some real feedback! It's how we live!