Business As Usual

Chapter 19:The Inability To Forget

Miya's Note: Again, I've pulled a switch. Where Chapter 18 was nothing but angst, 19 begins with some very goofy parts. I have to break it up a little bit, you know. It's not going to be as lighthearted all the way through as 13, but it's enough to put a refreshing pause to all the dark stuff that's been going on.

To Mikie: Hey Mikie! Thanks for the review, and for all of the members you roped into my cult of Runoism! Bwaha!

To blue daemon: Nope, I haven't abandoned BAU! I don't think I could ever abandon BAU! I dream friggin' storyline parts…Oh, and I'm still trying to get my head around where it all CAME from. I swear, my muses just pull crap outta their butts.

To corkykiggs: Don't worry. I speak to inanimate objects all. the. time. Seriously. My computer has a name. Her name is Eva. She is the evil bastard child of Hal. Oh, and I pretty much get what you were saying about Rufus. He's the same ol' Rufus, but it'sjust a different side to him, right?

To Tarshil: I hope I never run out of words for the story! That would make it very hard to write. XD (I'm such a dork.) Did I review fast enough?

Shiri Matakami (LORD OF FISH! I love that, still.): shoots up self with Mako and revives you No! No dead reviewers on MY watch! Noooooo! Haha, just kidding. Thanks a bunch. I hope you like the stuff in this chapter with Tseng. He'll be in the next one more. Why? You'll see as you get toward the end of this one. Oh, and could you do me a favor and not give away any content to the story in reviews? Some people, like me, sometimes read reviews before reading fics to get a good idea of what they're about to dive into, but would prefer if nothing was spoiled for them. It's just a little pet peeve of mine, and I'm not really angry about it, but I would prefer if you didn't do it. hug

"How dare you, you….you…thing…oooohh, why I ought to…"

"Throw you in the incinerator with the contaminated needles?" finished Rufus coolly to the man running after an indeterminate black blur that was knocking things over as it fled from its creator.

"Whatever! Help me catch this stupid thing, Specimen," yelled Hojo in his reply.

Rufus didn't have to move, as the black blur suddenly decided to become a black shadow that wrapped itself around the blonde's right ankle. "Hojo, I think it caught me instead."

"Well, give me the cursed thing before it runs away again."

Rufus looked down at the shadow. To his surprise, the shadow looked back at him with two big, yellow-green eyes and let out a pathetic "mew". Rufus looked at Hojo. Hojo stared at Rufus impatiently. Rufus looked back at the shadow.

"A kitten?" asked Rufus, bemused. He picked up the shadow and held it to his chest. It leaned against him and closed its eyes, and, to the blonde's amusement, started purring.

"It's not a kitten, it's a coeurl."

"Aren't those extinct?"

"They were, until now. The species split into two others, hell hounds and cuars, almost two hundred years ago, and I bred those two together to form this."

"You don't seem too happy with the result."

"Now I see why they all died. They're disgusting." Hojo reached for the creature. It looked up and growled at him.

"I don't know, Aldous." the Vice President replied in a tauntingly jovial voice. "I just don't think it likes you." Rufus paused, the coeurl still in his arms and tilted his head, becoming suddenly serious. "Now, I have some business to propose."

"Do you want it?"

"What?"

"The thing. You take it before I kill it."

"That's not what I meant. I don't need a pet. I wanted to ask you a question about the little…shall we say 'talent'…that you seem to have passed onto me." Rufus tried to put the coeurl down, but it held onto his black shirt by its claws, blending in except for the two bright spots that marked its eyes. The blonde continued to speak, letting the creature simply hang from his clothing. "I killed Reno."

"If I'm correct, I think I met this 'Reno'. Was he a redheaded Turk--the one with the sickening crush on you?"

"He is a redheaded Turk, yes," Rufus replied icily.

Hojo smiled. "Ah, I see. So, I am assuming that he did not stay dead for long."

"No, and I want to know how. Is it because you revived me?"

Hojo shook his head. "No, it is not a power that is passed on from person-to-person. For that to have been true, I would have to have been brought back just as you were, or I wouldn't possess the ability."

"Then, what is it?"

The scientist plucked his experiment from Rufus' shirt and placed it into a small cage. The coeurl let out a tiny squeak of fright in hopes that the blonde would save it from imminent doom. "Jenova," stated the gangly man self-assuredly as he turned back to the other.

Rufus' eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me that you cross-bred a new version of her as well."

"No. I have the real thing."

Rufus laughed hollowly. "Now I've heard it all. First, coeurls, and now the legendary parasite."

"You don't believe me."

"No, I can't say that I can believe that you, of all people, would have the parasite that wiped out the Cetra, and especially that she, the killer, would be the one to give people a second chance at life."

"Believe it, Specimen. It is quite ironic, isn't it?"

"Very, if it were true."

To spite the blonde, Hojo pulled one of the needles he had used on Rufus just days before from their drawer. "These are Jenova cells. Take the needle if you still don't trust me."

The Vice President did, and, just as quickly as he took it, Rufus dropped the syringe to the ground. The light closest to him burst, and he stumbled sideways.

Hojo, instead of running to help Rufus, dashed to recover the cells. "How much Mako have you taken?"

"Too much," Rufus said, grasping his bangs and running his hand over his face.

"Jenova is the foremost enemy of the Lifestream. That is what lets her rebel against it. If you react this strongly now, it is surprising you lived through their battle earlier."

"What?"

"To save you, I overdosed you with Mako, then added the cells to reverse the effects. You reacted very strongly to it then, and even stronger now."

"Whatever you say, Hojo," was all that Rufus said to that. He began to walk from the lab.

"Your curiosity has been satiated, I presume?"

"Yes. I don't even care anymore. It doesn't matter."

"You still don't believe me."

"I don't know what I believe." The blonde began to leave again.

"Are you going to take it?" The coeurl let out a pitiful meow-like noise.

"No. I don't want it. Kill it for all I care."

The creature whimpered.

Rufus left without a look back.

"This sure is the month for assassination attempts, isn't it?" asked Reno pointedly as he flipped through his mission report.

"There are a lot of people who don't like the Shinras," came Rude's short reply as he drank the last of a tumbler of rum and gin.

"Well, at least we're not running right into the middle of this one. At least we're trying to stop it before it happens this time."

Rude shrugged. The bartender of Seventh Heaven refilled his drink, looking at him warily. As she walked away to serve her other customers, Reno leaned toward Rude, so as to be able to talk to him without the obnoxious threat of others hearing their conversation.

"Hey," he whispered, "we'd better not talk so loud. I think the bar-wench is trying to listen in."

"She's kind of cute, though, and built like a goddess. Why didn't you bring me here sooner?"

"Some people down here still don't like me too much. I try to avoid making visits home whenever I can. But, sometimes, you just need a good drink." The redhead stared into his glass, and only one small drop of alcohol looked back at him. "Hostess," he called, and the woman walked over, her chestnut hair trailing behind her.

"Yes?" she answered coldly, looking drowsily at him through mahogany eyes.

"I need a tall glass of the strongest scotch you have."

"Are you sure about that?" the barmaid asked, leaning against the counter. Reno, unlike Rude, didn't bother to stare at the way she propped herself up by her rather large chest. "That stuff could kill a big chocobo if you gave it enough."

"Then, that's exactly what I want."

The woman shrugged and turned to the bottles behind her.

"So, what do you think of her?" asked Rude in a whisper.

"There's such a thing as too big, and it's her. Why do bartenders always have such huge gazongas?"

"Why does the trash always have to ogle at them?" asked the bar-maid as she slid Reno's drink to him.

"Hey lady, he was the one who was staring, not me." the redhead stated simply, pointing to his friend beside him. "I happen to not care either way, as long as the booze is good." Reno lit a match and held it directly over his drink, the top of which immediately burst into flames. "And the booze is very good." He blew out the match and his drink and threw back his whole scotch in one gulp.

"That's disgusting, and don't call me 'lady'. I have a name, by the way."

"So do I, but I'll let you get away with calling me 'the trash' for today." Reno grinned widely, wiping his mouth.

Rude piped in. "So, what is it?"

"What?" asked the bartender.

"Your name."

"Tifa."

Rude just nodded and continued to sip his drink as Tifa grunted and walked away to serve her other customers.

"So, now that you've stopped thinking with your dick, let's get back to the mission, hm?" stated Reno dully as he once again flipped through the mission report.

"I'm surprised you have enough brain cells left to think at all. What proof was that alcohol?"

"To prevent the assassination of President Shinra and the Vice President, there must first be an assassination of the assassin." Reno read aloud in a mockingly announcer-like voice. "Who wrote this crap?"

"And you talk to me about thinking with my dick? You're the one who's going around…"

Reno cut him off. "Don't finish that statement, Gertie. You're drunk. How many drinks have you had? I haven't been counting."

Rude hit him in the shoulder for use of the little "nickname". "Oh, I dunno. Only about twelve, since I'm still a little bit freaked out that my best friend is going off and screwing the Vice…" The bald Turk suddenly stopped speaking, realizing that half of the bar was staring at him, wide eyed.

"…coordinator of a lovely museum on the plate. Her name's…Rachel, and she's a little eccentric. You know, the artsy type. Now, Rude, let's go, before we drive the nice lady's customers away with our drunken yelling."

Outside of the bar, after Reno managed to drag Rude, who stumbled out of the door heavily, away from Seventh Heaven, the newer Turk began to berate his fellow mercenary, much to Rude's surprise, who had never heard Reno get onto anybody about something that he did a little too often himself.

"I don't believe this. How did a big guy like you manage to get so plastered? You'd think you'd have more of a gut for liquor than a scrawny man like me."

Rude replied in a jumble of barely coherent statements, the only parts of which Reno could understand were something about "Tseng…going to kill me…" and "nice name, Tifa."

"Damn, I'm having a bad day. First…well, first, I die. Then, the only stable person I know gets drunk off his ass and can't shut up about some chick with big boobs."

"You're talking to yourself." mumbled Rude.

"I know. Shut up. I'm going to call Tseng." Reno dialed his boss' number on his PHS device. "Yeah, Tseng, I think Rude's out for this next mission."

Rude listened in as Reno paused.

"No, you don't get it. He's about to fall over, he's so drunk……yeah, I'll take full responsibility for bringing him to the bar. It's not like my record can get any worse……Why not? You can't just drop out of this, too. I know you're from there, but I can't do this alone. It needs a sharpshooter, and you know how well that'll go if I'm stuck as the only one with the gun……Rude usually does that job, anyway, but I know you'd do it better than me, even if you don't usually go into combat." Reno held the PHS away from his head. The sound of Tseng's yells could be heard from where Rude was standing.

"What's wrong?"

"He's not going, either. It's more of those ninja guys, and he's still worried about endangering the mission. These guys are persistent, aren't they?" After the sound on the other line died down, Reno continued to speak to Tseng. "Listen, the only one you have to worry about getting killed if you freeze up is me, and you wanted to fire me anyway……Fine. I can handle that. Heidegger. Right. Bye, Boss."

"What's going on?"

"He's gonna come anyway, but we have to talk to one of the higher-ups about getting another sharpshooter. He doesn't seem to think he's good enough for the job. I think being the boss and getting to do all the paperwork and hand out all the orders instead of getting his hands dirty's made him soft." Reno leaned against a make-shift wall of scrap metal and clenched his hands in his hair.

Rude stared at him and scuffed his toe into the ground, a gesture that looked very strange coming from someone as daunting as him.

"Damn it. This is all my fucking fault. Every damned little bit of it." The redhead thinly resisted the urge to fling his PHS across Sector 7. "I'm such an idiot. I'm such a godsforsaken fucking idiot." He lit a cigarette and leaned back, squinting his eyes and pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"Don't you get why I'm so worried about you?" asked the other Turk, breaking his comrade out of his reverie.

"No. I can take care of myself. Now stop. Listen, you're my best bud and all, but this is getting little weird. Plus, you need to rest. All this crazy crap about being worried about me got you like this, and it's not gonna help to keep it up."

"I just don't want you to end up like this girl we found on one of our missions."

Reno leaned back, actually interested in what Rude had to say. After all, it wasn't as if his comrade often had stories to tell. "Girl? She dead or alive?"

"Dead. She was a rape victim. Some bastard took her out, screwed her, and slit her throat. He left her in the middle of an alleyway. The DNA we found on her was from some guy from the slums who had gone missing years before, and we never found him."

Reno just kind of gaped.

"I'd been telling Tseng I thought it was two people who'd done it. There were little traces of other DNA, but they were faint. I told him that could have been because the second guy tried to wash her off or something. The other guy wasn't in the files, like he'd been wiped out of the registry."

Reno was very lucky that Rude wasn't himself, or else he may have thought something suspicious about the fact that the redhead suddenly begun to retch.

"Who's drunk now?"

"You're right…just…too much scotch." Reno did his best to recover his composure.

"Can you do the mission?" the bald man slurred slightly.

"I'll be fine by tomorrow. You, on the other hand…you're gonna have a hell of a hangover, man. I can see it in the way you're standing." Reno changed subjects slightly, overlooking his discomfort with the previous conversation. "So, you think I'm going to end up dead in some alleyway because Rufus is gonna just decide one day that I'd be a good prospect for a friendly afternoon rape?"

"I wouldn't put it past the crazy sonofabitch."

Reno lit a cigarette and flicked his comrade off.

"Turks?" asked a large, thickly bearded man through the hair on his face. His eyes shone beady and dark behind the black mane and from within a maze of scars. "What is your business here?"

"Sir, I am sorry to disturb you," remarked Tseng with an apologetic nod, "but the member of our ranks usually in charge of gunmanship has fallen severely ill, and this mission will fail without that service."

Reno's eyes widened slightly at Tseng's outright lie on Rude's behalf. This was something the redhead felt his boss never would have done had it been him instead.

"Are you telling me that you cannot complete the mission I have assigned to you?"

"No, Sir. That is by no means what I meant. We can complete the mission, but we are in desperate need of a reliable sharpshooter."

"What about the novice? If he is not adequate, why was he hired? In the future, should I think about not trusting you to hire new members to the ranks?"

Tseng was incredulous, but he hid it well under that familiar mask of formality that Reno had never figured out how to break. "I assure you, Sir, that Reno Kiribani is an asset to our ranks, but in a very different area than Mr. Mannheim."

"And what area is that?"

"I'm a crafty son-of-a-bitch, that's what." Reno butted in.

"Reno, will you please be quiet, before you further offend Mr. Heidegger?" Tseng gave a look that gave the same impact to his employee as being shot in the head.

"I ask again, Mister Takawa-Li: What is Mister Kiribani's area of expertise?"

"He is a talented computer specialist and a master wielder of the electro-mag rod, a weapon designed by your fellow executive, Miss Scarlet, and given to him by the Vice President himself."

"Yvonnecka is very particular of whose hands her weapons end up in."

"Yes."

"I would like to see an example of this Turk's strengths before I make my judgment on a sharpshooter. I have some very talented comrades in SOLDIER, but I need to assess this boy's strengths and weaknesses before giving him somebody to work with, as I assume you will be less directly involved in the mission as he."

"Of course, Sir."

Reno groaned. He had never been outright tested by an executive before, not even Rufus, who just threw a weapon in his hand and left him on his own to use it. He wrapped his fingers around the rubber grip of the mag-rod, which was hinging at his belt. "Do you want to see how I do in combat, or do you want to see me hack something?"

"I would strongly prefer both," responded Heidegger, amused.

The redhead stepped up to the large man's computer. "Is there anything on here you really don't want me to see? Porn? Nasty letters from your girlfriend? Stuff I can use to blackmail you?"

Heidegger laughed, an odd booming "Gwahaha" that seemed to make the floor shake. "Nothing that you'll be able to get to."

"I wouldn't count on that." Reno's bony fingers flew over the keyboard. In a matter of minutes, he hit one final triumphant "tap" and sat back in the chair. The Turk laughed. "Oooh-hoo-hoo, I knew you had to have some interesting stuff on here! So that's why you're on a first-name basis with that Scarlet chick. I was wondering about that." Reno switched into a high-pitched, girly voice, and began to read, "'Martinis,'--Wow, what a lovely first name. People here sure do have some strange parents--'meet me tonight at my place to talk business.'" Reno could see Heidegger's eyes becoming increasingly wider. "I would read more, but I don't think Tseng wants to hear about the kind of business she wants to talk about. I see him as being a little uptight about that kind of thing, right Boss?"

"Reno, I assure you that you have no need to read on. I believe that Mr. Heidegger is quite aware enough of your abilities on the computer."

Heidegger didn't say anything. He looked like if he would have opened his mouth at the time, that he would have exploded. Finally, he managed to calm down enough to speak. "I assure you. I do not need to see any more of Mr. Kiribani. I will find a gunman without any further assistance. You are dismissed."

"Back now, are we?" asked President Shinra, expressionless, as his son walked through the office doors.

"Safe and sound."

"You look worse off than when I shot you."

"Oh, believe me, Father. I am very much better than that."

Shinra let out an empty guffaw.

"I don't see what is so amusing, Father."

"I made a deal with the filthy Turk."

Rufus' eyes narrowed.

"Once you returned to health, I could try everything in my power to kill him, just so you would have the pleasure of watching."

The younger blonde smiled. "Once again, I am ahead of you. I already killed Reno, although he didn't stay that way for long. Does that sound familiar at all?"

"Impossible." Shinra stood, shaking violently with rage and a bit of fear. "Was it Hojo, or was it you this time?"

"It was me." Rufus raised his left hand. The lights flickered, and Shinra backed up slowly.

"What are you doing, boy?"

"I have some excess Mako that I need to let off. Call it the final step in my recovery." As the lights dimmed, casting a shadow over the President's office, Rufus drew his gun with his free hand. "I should have just enough for a couple of spells." The lights came back to life. "Bolt 3."

Shinra yelled as bolts of lightning arched from the many computers on his desk to his body. He didn't have time to react as Rufus came toward him, gun firing shots into his shoulders and gut.

Another shot fired from behind the strawberry blonde, but he turned to it just as it exited its pistol and held out his hand once again, calmly stating the word "stop". The bullet froze in midair and fell to the ground. The Vice President fired once again, this time at his attacker. The SOLDIER who had run to the President's rescue fell as a shot pierced her throat. The backup troops who came behind her, seeing what Rufus had done to their commanding officer, turned and fled.

"That's two. All out now, I think, and what a relief it is, to have burned off that extra energy, don't you agree, Father?"

Shinra groaned feebly, his blood barely visible amongst the mass of red fabric that made up his suit. "Are you going to kill me now, Rufus?"

"No. Death is too good for the likes of you. No, I think that I will merely punish you for the sins you have committed. I have passed judgment upon you, and you have failed. This is your payment." Rufus stepped up to his father and looked down upon him. He pulled a switchblade from his pocket and flipped it open.

"What are you going to do to me?"

Rufus answered by jamming the blade through his father's right hand, which lay on the floor. As he pulled the knife away, Shinra screamed and grasped his hand. His son kneed him in the nose. Shinra only saw the blade for a moment before the tip of it pierced his right retina, the thin fingers of the strawberry blonde holding up his eyelid. Blood ran down the President's face in rivers.

"Oh, gods, stop it…"

"You beg for mercy too late." Rufus pushed his father backwards, and the larger, older man fell back upon the tile, screaming with his agony. The younger pinned him down by the throat with his knee. As his final sentence, the Vice President carved the word "MORTALITY" deeply into his father's chest, through the thick cloth upon it. "Now, you carry your sins upon you, where only death itself can cleanse them. Nobody will share in these sins, as each of them can be covered, and will be covered by earthly means, so that their memory will haunt you, and only you, when you look at yourself and see that which only you can see. You must suffer your sins alone, Father, like I have done until today."

Shinra's uninjured eye rolled into the back of his head as Rufus walked from the office, leaving him alone with only a dead guard as company.

Rufus Shinra sat at his own desk, a pen in his hand and a stack of papers in front of him. The light of his computer monitor cast a sickly glow onto his face. A bored look up notified Rufus of a new message from Heidegger.

Setting his paperwork aside for a moment, the blonde clicked on the message, expecting something as equally boring as the reactor planning memos and status reports. What he found was not so dull as anticipated.

"Rufus," it read. Already, this seemed odd, as Heidegger was usually more formal in his writing, due to his past as a general in the now extinct Junon Militia. Perhaps though, Rufus thought, Heidegger was merely finally listening to his superior's orders that he stop referring to him as "Vice President Shinra".

"The Turks are in desperate need of a sharpshooter. My resources are limited, and I will most likely be unable to find the needed talent to fill the role. Sir, it would be highly appreciated if you could take some time to find an adequate replacement for Rude Mannheim, who is currently incapacitated and unable to fill his usual role." This seemed normal enough. Heidegger had asked for his help on Turk issues many times before, despite the fact that they shouldn't have been Rufus' concern--so much so that Rufus was practically the unofficial vice-coordinator of the force. Still, something didn't seem quite right about the letter, and the blonde continued reading the rest of the message, of which all that remained was the signature, which read "Z. M. Heidegger".

Now this, on the other hand, was very strange. Rufus knew what the "M" stood for. Often, Rufus had heard other executives refer to Heidegger as Martinis, a name which he had always assumed to be his first, not his middle name.

The blonde couldn't resist checking the files. He suddenly had a hunch as to what was going on. As he had expected, the military coordinator's file returned with the name "Heidegger, Martinis", with no "Z" in sight. The blonde couldn't keep himself from smiling.

Heidegger sat, very annoyed, in his office, looking over the files of some of the best sharpshooters in SOLDIER.

"Have you had any luck in your searches?" asked a tenor voice from the office doorway. Heidegger had been so consumed, he hadn't even heard his door open.

"No, I have not, Vice President Shinra, Sir, but I assure you that I will in time."

Rufus wrinkled his nose slightly. "For the last time, Heidegger, do not, I repeat, do not call me--ever--by my last name."

"I apologize, Vice President Rufus, Sir."

This only confirmed the blonde's earlier speculation.

"Sir, if I may ask, do you know what I am searching for?"

"Yes, I do."

"And how is that, Sir?"

"That is none of your concern, Heidegger. I have my ways." This definitely proved that the message was not written by the ex-general's hands, as that man seemed to have no knowledge of a message having ever been sent.

"Do you have any suggestions, Sir?"

"Yes. I will be filling the role. I am caught up on all of my paperwork, and I have no other arrangements. Also, I have considerable experience in Turk affairs and Turk training, as you are already aware. I see no other option."

"Yes, Sir. I will notify the Turks immediately," replied the larger man, though he was very uneasy about the prospect.

"No, Heidegger. I shall take care of that matter myself, tomorrow." Rufus turned. "Return to work. I understand that you have other appointments, concerning the replacement of a SOLDIER officer killed in the line of duty while attempting to protect the President."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."

Word spread quickly that Rufus had returned, alive, to the confines of Shinra Incorporated, and that he had continued his duties as before, almost as if he had never been gone at all. Word didn't spread at all, however, that he was participating in a confidential Turk mission concerning prevention of his own assassination. In fact, not even the Turks knew of this until Tseng heard the sound of a shot and felt the presence of a bullet that zoomed just before his nose in the underground training area.

"I think we have our sharpshooter," said Tseng, stunned.

"Yeah, who?" asked Reno, looking for his temporary comrade. When he turned to find the one person he hadn't actually expected to show up, he froze and stared, wide eyed, at Rufus, who flashed him a toothy smirk.

"Good morning, Tseng; Reno."

"Good morning, Sir."

"Uh, hiya."

"You both seem a little taken aback by my arrival here," Rufus stated, bemused. "I'm surprised, especially at you, Reno. I thought this was how you would have expected me to reply to your message. How did you get into Heidegger's account?"

"He told me to show him just what I could do with a computer. He has no idea that I used his account to send a message. I guess my clues worked, huh? I didn't think you'd show, though. I just sent that so you'd pick me somebody good, instead of letting that guy pick somebody I'd hate. I don't really trust his judgment, especially not after going through some of his personal mail."

"Well, you got me."

Tseng decided to add his two cents to the conversation. "Sir, are you sure that this is a smart idea? This mission could very well compromise your life."

"So does sitting at my desk, doing paperwork. I am never completely safe, Tseng. You, of all people, should know this."

"But you will be going straight into the line of fire, and these are people who are already planning to kill you. Is it smart to bring yourself to them?"

"You underestimate me, Tseng," Rufus stated coldly.

"I apologize, Sir, but…"

"But nothing, Tseng. You seem to be forgetting that my position in this company is higher--considerably higher--than yours. I appreciate the concern, but, as I was once told wisely by a friend, this is my life to keep or to throw away, and nobody, especially not somebody whom I outrank, will ever convince me otherwise."

"Not even me?" asked Reno, unable to keep a nervous shiver out of his tone of voice.

Rufus turned to the redhead, a questioning look on his visage.

"I have to know something. Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He mouthed "Again?", so that Tseng couldn't hear.

"No, Reno. I just need to get out of this building. I have begun to feel a little bit stir crazy. One can only spend so much time within man-made confines without yearning for some sense of freedom."

"I…see."

"If you are worried about your own well-being, I assure you that I am in a far different state than that of yesterday."

"I'm not……worried, I mean."

Rufus stepped up close to his partner and began to whisper softly and seductively into the redhead's ear. "Yesterday taught me something, Reno. You are, to me, far more than you could ever imagine. It means the world to me see that you are satisfied with this decision. I would let them torture me, torment me, and murder me before I ever let anything happen to you. After all, isn't that the way of the Turks?"

"You're not a Turk."

"But I am acting as one today, and I do not deviate from my role."

Reno turned to the blonde, setting one finger on his nose, which, though healing due to yet another Mako treatment, was still extremely sore. "You already are."

"Oh, how?"

"Turks don't have relationships with other Turks."

Rufus sighed. "I guess that you're right. I should get more into character."

Tseng couldn't help but feeling as if Reno and Rufus were beginning to forget that he was there with him, and he coughed lightly. "Sir, I have one last concern."

"What?" Rufus responded fiercely.

"Are you certain that you will be both be able to adequately perform while working as partners, or will you be distracted?"

Rufus smiled at that. "Tseng, I assure you that I am perfectly capable of separating my business and personal lives when needed."

The Wutaian was obviously unconvinced, but he felt it unwise to inquire further to the Vice President, so he turned instead to his subordinate. "Reno?"

"I think I can handle it, Boss."

The blonde cut in before Tseng could respond. "You don't sound too sure of yourself. Are you sure that you will be alright? I have no concerns about myself, but I don't want to do this if it will make you uncomfortable."

"I'm fine."

Tseng's eyes narrowed to slits. It made him look oddly catty, and looking at him, Rufus was reminded slightly of the coeurl in Hojo's lab. "I'm going to be in charge of relaying messages to the two of you concerning the status of the mission. We will leave for Wutai as soon as you two are ready."

The trip to Wutai was fairly uneventful. The helicopter was rather larger than that which had transported Reno and Rude to the Junon mission, and not nearly as unstable. The redhead found this an extremely calming fact.

Rufus, who was far more used to flying, just sat beside Reno in a new breed of statuesque silence that slightly unnerved his companion. Wearing a black suit in place of his white one, the blonde looked remarkably like he had at his wedding. Reno had to concentrate hard to keep his mind off of what had happened the last time the Vice President had worn something similar.

To break the silence, Reno asked, "How exactly are we going to get into Wutai? We can't just drop down in the middle of the city. That wouldn't be too sneaky of us."

"We're going by motorcycle, and we're not actually going into Wutai. Didn't you read all of the mission report? The assassin, Jiang Kisiragi, is hiding out in a hut just outside of the village."

"So, what's my job?"

"You lure Kisiragi from the hideout, and I kill him."

"Who is this guy?"

Rufus turned to his partner, his eyes droopy with annoyance. "You really didn't read the entire mission report, did you?"

Reno shook his head in the negative.

"He is the son of Tai Kisiragi, brother to Lord Godo Kisiragi, and Liu Kisiragi, formerly Liu Takawa-Li, sister to Tseng Takawa-Li."

"What? We're killing Tseng's nephew?"

"Yes."

"Holy shit."

Rufus nodded, expressionless. "I talked to Tseng while you were still preparing. He understands that there is nothing that we can do for his nephew, but he asks that, if at all possible, we attempt to spare his sister."

"We shouldn't have to kill her, should we?"

"We very well may, depending on her reaction to the death of her son. If she responds violently, we will be forced to dispose of her as well." Rufus paused, thinking intently of how to word his next statement. "Tseng has been a very dear companion of mine since I was young. He found me after I left Hojo's laboratory for the first time, as I was crawling through the halls, screaming from the pain of life, and he taught me how to live again. Because of this, I couldn't bear to tell him that she would almost surely put herself in a dangerous position, as her son is all that she has left."

"Where's the father?"

"He is dead. One of us made sure of that at Junon."

"Oh." Reno bowed his head, feeling slightly guilty for his deeds--deeds which had seemed perfectly justified at the time of their execution.

"Rude is also very close to Tseng, as he has worked with him since he was young. He would have been a liability had he come on this mission and known what he had to do. He, unlike me, is not as hardened, despite the fact that he has been a Turk for most of his life."

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing that I took him to the bar and got him snookered, huh?"

Rufus laughed. "Is that what Tseng told you?"

"That's what happened. I was there."

"You are sorely mistaken. Rude was drugged, but you just happened to help him out by giving him some alcohol on top of it."

"Yeah right, Rufus. I saw him. He was plastered off his ass." Reno squinted his eyes in aggravation as the blonde smirked. "Fine. Who drugged him enough to make sure he couldn't go? You?"

"No. Tseng."

Reno stopped and thought for a moment. "Well, I'll be damned. That actually makes sense. It's unexpected, but it makes sense. So that's why the boss man didn't seem too surprised by it. Plus, I thought it was a little weird that such a big guy couldn't take a few drinks."

The helicopter shook. Reno grabbed on to the closest nonmoving object, which just happened to be the edge of his seat. Rufus sat calmly, brushing off his suit, and set out to calm his partner with a simple "We've arrived." To Reno's horror, the blonde stood up while the vehicle was still moving and walked to the door, opening it and looking outside, the wind throwing his hair around his face.

And he simply stepped out.

Reno bit his lip and stood, balancing himself on the bars around the door, and looked out. Rufus waved at him from outside, and though he couldn't hear it, the redhead could see that he was laughing at him.

"You have to jump, Reno!" yelled the Vice President. "We can't land. It'll take too long to take off again, and that's dangerous time!"

"And it's not dangerous to jump out of a moving helicopter?" Reno screamed back.

"If you're so scared, don't worry. I'll catch you!" Rufus laughed so loud that the Turk actually could hear him over the whirring blades of the copter.

"I think I'll keep some small shred of dignity, thank you!" And Reno held his breath, closed his eyes, and jumped. He hit the ground hard and rolled.

"Are you alright?" Rufus asked.

"Fine. Just peachy."

"Move."

"Do I have to?"

"I'm serious. Move, before you get crushed by the supplies."

"Like what?"

"Like a motorcycle and a crate full of heavy, metal weapons."

"That would hurt." Just to prove it, the hatch on the back of the helicopter began to open, and a motorcycle and a large crate showed themselves to the Turk.

Rufus cursed loudly and dove at the ground, shoving his partner out of the way and rolling to the side just as the supplies came tumbling out of their cargo hold. "Yes, that would hurt.'

"Rufus…I…"

"Don't mention it."

"…Thanks."

Miya's Note: Well, here's Ch. 19. I hope you guys liked it, especially the fact that it didn't take too terribly long to be updated (at least not compared to the last installment)! The next chapter's going to be all mission-ey and exciting, kind of like Chapter 4. That one will be fun to write!

: Well, here's Ch. 19. I hope you guys liked it, especially the fact that it didn't take terribly long to be updated (at least not compared to the last installment)! The next chapter's going to be all mission-ey and exciting, kind of like Chapter 4. That one will be fun to write!

Oh, and I have big, twisty, EVIL plans for later chapters. I can give you guys some non-spoiler-ey teasers:

1.) There will be a chapter later (I don't know which one) called "The Deity's Concubine". Why? THAT, I can't say:D

2.) In even LATER chapters (one to two after "The Deity's Concubine", there are going to be two new original characters. (Well, sort of…What do I mean by that? Haha, I'm being cryptic again and am not telling!) The first is Leanora Richmond and the second is Lucas Feltz. They both look remarkably similar to Rufus, but for different reasons. Neither of them are related to him (In fact, Leanora has never met Rufus), nor are they related to each other, though the arrival of one beckons the other to come. (Now, are you completely confused? I'm EVIL! EEEEEVIL! MWAHAHA!) I can tell you, it's probably not what you would expect.

3.) The first part I ever wrote to this story, concerning a dream, is actually part of one of the very last chapters, and will take place about a week before the end.

4.) Judging by the pace that the story's going at now, there will most likely be at least 30 chapters total. So, for those of you who want a nice, long, novel-like story, you're definitely going to get it. If it comes out less than 30 chapters, I'll be surprised, because I don't think I could fit everything I still want to put in here into less than eleven.

Yeah, that's enough teasing for tonight.