Business As Usual

Chapter #27: Narcotica and Erotica

Miya's Note: Thank you all for over 22,000 hits!

Just as a little note to all of you, I am definitely going to finish this story, and write the sequel to it as well. I've been, on and off, coming up with ideas for Parallel Threes (The aforementioned sequel, if you don't know by now.), and the storyline is a real twist. I pity anybody who tries to start reading it when it comes out who hasn't read this one first, since a lot of it is dependant on knowing what happened in BAU.

To give you some information, Parallel Threes switches the whole thing around a bit and makes Rufus tell the story, instead of Reno, and takes place from after the ending of BAU (which is at the same time as White Flag) all the way to a little bit after Advent Children. It incorporates much, much more of the Cetra Mythology shown in Chapter 22 of BAU, and especially explains why Rufus seems so changed from FF7 to AC.

Though this may disappoint some of you, Reno won't be in P3 nearly as much as he is in BAU. He is presented in the sequel as more of a tertiary character, at least up until the end, where he comes back into the main thread of the plot. His storyline will be presented in mostly sporadic bursts, while Rufus and a very unexpected secondary character (not a love interest, though, so don't worry about anyone interfering in Reno and Rufus' relationship) will take the forefront. If anybody can guess who the secondary protagonist is going to be, I'll answer one question (ANY question, so make it a good one!) you have about any part of the WF/BAU/P3 series of crazy stories, including spoilers. And, yes, I'll be nice and let you have as many guesses as you want.

Okay, enough ranting. Hope you all like this chapter.

After my experience with Rufus' mystery pain killers--probably high-dosage narcotics of some sort, knowing Rufus--I woke up on a couch right outside Janice's reception area. I looked at the time. It had been a while since I'd fallen asleep, but the pain was most definitely gone. I was a little annoyed that I'd ended up on a couch instead of a bed, but I figured that Rufus probably had his reasons.

Standing proved to be the real problem.

The first thing I thought when I checked out the rest of my body to see how I was reacting to the pills was that it was a good thing that Rufus' job mostly involved paperwork. I was tired, in that happy sort of way that only high-dosage narcotics can make you tired, and the lower half of my body didn't seem to want to coordinate with the upper.

Maybe Rufus hadn't been kidding when he'd said half of a pill would be enough. That's what I get for assuming that a guy who rarely ever made jokes except when it either benefited him or was completely and utterly against the benefit of anyone else was, in fact, making a joke for the sheer sake of making a joke.

Oh, well.

I walked as best I could into the reception area to talk to Janice and see if she knew anything.

"That's classified, Reno," she told me with a smile. "I promised the almighty up there that I wouldn't tell a soul what happened." The secretary pointed up the stairs and winked at me.

"I'm drugged and curious, Janice. Give me a break," I drawled out.

The woman behind the desk gave me her trademark, almost-but-not-quite matronly look and turned to check up the stairs. "I think you should talk to him about it, not me," she suggested, fiddling with the pen she always seemed to have nestled behind her ear. "He's in a meeting right now, though, so you need to wait until Reeve comes out of there."

"Reeve, eh? What's the crazy cat-man going on about?"

"He wants Rufus to have the damages from the AVALANCHE bombing of the Sector 1 reactor and the destruction of Sector 7 fixed. From what I've gotten out of the yelling back-and-forth between them, it doesn't sound like your lover-boy is going for it."

I gawked at her, suddenly cured of my drug-induced lethargy. She simply gave me a look that said, "Yes, I did just say that."

I found it fascinating the things that some of Rufus' employees could get away with, while others would die if they made one wrong move.

"You have no way to prove that there is anything going on between us!" Reno hissed at the secretary, trying not to let anybody who may have accidentally walked in on their conversation hear.

"I have a hunch," said Janice, simply.

"How could you even suggest that? You know, if he were to find out you said that, he'd probably kill you."

"No, he wouldn't. He is quite aware that I know things about him that he doesn't want to admit. It's actually quite cute, some of the things he tells me about you."

Reno's brain practically exploded as he processed the fact that Rufus' secretary (not even a high-level employee, comparatively speaking) had just done the unthinkable and suggested that her extremely volatile and dangerous employer had done things that could be remotely considered "cute".

Seeing the expression this caused on Reno's face made Janice force herself to suppress a laugh. "You know, he carried you through here with you holding onto the lapel of his jacket, a huge grin on your face like you were having an especially happy dream, with him looking more embarrassed than I'd ever seen him. When he put you out on the couch out there, he came back in here and asked me what he should do with you, seeing as he very well couldn't carry you to your room like that. I told him to leave you on the couch, and then told him exactly what I just told you. I know there's been something going on between you two for a while. I've seen it growing over the years."

"How could you see it growing? He's been gone for most of it! And that's not to even say we're together, because you obviously don't expect me to be g…"

"I was his liaison while he was in Junon, and he made sure to keep in touch with me, and make even more care to keep me in touch with you, so that I could tell him how you were doing."

Reno melted, his previous statement suddenly drowned out by new thoughts. "What all did you tell him?"

"Mostly about your health, if you were troubled about something, and the like. I tried to avoid it, though, because it seemed to depress him to hear about you. He was more upset the last couple of years, because you weren't coming around as often, and you were so shut out when you did come that I couldn't figure out enough about how everything was going to give him much information about you."

Reno nodded. He hadn't really noticed how much he had shirked away from Janice when he'd gotten together with Nora, but he figured it was because Janice was connected with Rufus, and anything connected with Rufus made him feel guilty. The redhead sighed. "I wish you'd told me how he was every once in a while. You know how long I tried to pry that info out of you?"

"He forbid me from even mentioning his life in Junon to you."

"Why?"

"For the exact reason I didn't want to tell him anything about you." Janice seemed tired. She looked older than Reno knew she was, and more pallid than he had ever seen her. Nonetheless, she managed a faint semblance of a smirk that, with the slight shine in her eyes, brought out the aura of clever, watchful wisdom that had allowed Reno to trust her, and had probably done the same with Rufus. She reminded him a lot of a mother, and he wondered suddenly if she and her husband had any kids.

It was at that highly inappropriate moment in the middle of Reno's thoughtful reverie that a man with mid-length dark hair and a goatee stormed down the stairs of Rufus' office and past the two at the desk. The redheaded Turk shrugged toward the secretary, and she gestured for him to go up the stairs.

Reeve Tuesti was unappreciated, and he didn't know why.

The Shinra head of City Affairs and Urban Development could never quite figure out what it was about him that his peers, Rufus, and Rufus' father before him despised so much. After all, Reeve had finally done it.

He had finished the project he'd been working on for four years.

Perhaps it was how consumed he'd been in that project. Perhaps it was because of exactly what that project entailed. After all, even though it was an extremely advanced piece of engineering, his Peaceful Observation and Interaction Unit, Cait Sith Entity #01 didn't seem to fit into the rest of Shinra's varied repertoire of men and machines. He had, on orders from the ex-President, added in a complex backup program that would allow the Cait Sith Entity #01 to defend itself if the need arose, but, still, nobody seemed to understand.

It wasn't right.

Had it been him who had chosen the Gold Saucer--one of the world's and Shinra's biggest economic hotspots, but not a particularly easy-to-spy-on location--as a place to station his, as his peers referred to it, "Stupid, Worthless Spy-Cat"? No. What else would fit into the bright, fluorescent theme park besides the most bizarre and unique creation ever to come out of Shinra's ranks?

Not right. Not fair.

Or, maybe, it wasn't Cait Sith at all, but simply the fact that Reeve was too nice and too much of a pushover for his own good.

Or maybe, very simply, a mix between the two.

Reeve stepped into his office, turning on the lights to reveal a large, pink thing with a tiny king-of-cats sitting on top. As Reeve entered, it was as if the cat sensed his presence--even though it would be quickly obvious to an outsider that the creature was actually a machine--and suddenly almost seemed to come to life, greeting its maker with a "Hello, Mr. Tuesti!" in an almost overly-cute voice that might have made one reminisce about shows they used to watch as a child.

"Cait, tell my fortune," said Reeve sullenly to the robotic creature.

Cait Sith spun a few times on top of its stuffed "Mog" base and pulled a small strand of ticker tape, like a magic trick, from an invisible slot that only Reeve knew where to find. "Embrace your friends. You never know how much you may miss them when they're gone for good," read the fortune-teller.

Reeve laughed at that. He had programmed Cait with an AI that judged people's situations and attempted to tell a fortune that would make them feel better. It never seemed to work on him.

He suddenly realized how pathetic it was that Cait was the only one who ever greeted him with such enthusiasm, and that ever attempted to be nice.

How pathetic, that his only friend was a robotic cat in a world where being nice was a sin.

"Hello, Reno."

"How'd you know this time?" asked Reno to Rufus, who again hadn't looked up from his work when the Turk had entered.

"Intercom. Janice told me."

"Oh."

"How do you feel?"

"Great. What was that shit?"

"Concentrated tribal medication from Cosmo Canyon. Miracle herbs and the like, most likely hallucinogenic. Dream well?"

"So those aren't even from a friggin' pharmacy? They're from a bunch of old guys with beards who sit around a fire smoking a communal pipe and telling stories about the planet?"

"Ah, so you've been to Cosmo Canyon, I take it?" The edge of Rufus' mouth twitched upward slightly.

"Yeah, they're a bunch of weirdos. I had a mission there to try and get information on the Ancients, and I ended up getting chased out by a group of guys in cloaks with torches." Reno gave Rufus a questioning look. "Those guys hate Shinra and everything associated with them. How'd you manage to get in there long enough to get medicine from them?"

"I walked in, said 'hello', and asked them if I could have a chat with the elder. By the way, the communal pipe is full of very strong opiates that make conversation more…truthful, if I must say so myself."

"You didn't."

"Yes, I did. I told them that I was there for personal research purposes, in regards to a book that I received from my mother, and they told me that a man named Bugenhagen was the one I needed to see, so he and I spoke about the Cetra, Gaia, and other pertinent matters, and then I sent some other information over to Midgar about the whereabouts of Bugenhagen's adopted grandson Nanaki, who was wanted by the science department."

"Grandson?"

"I never met him, that I remember. All that I know was that, when I was there, he was out on a hunting trip, which made it very easy for our company to intercept him and take him into custody without having to enter the city itself."

"So, you drained information for yourself out of this poor guy, and then helped to kidnap his grandson?"

"Yes. It was easy, since he had undoubtedly taken in more smoke than I had, and was very calm and very open with his words. It was easy to gather what facts I both wanted and needed, and then leave without a word, taking a lovely little souvenir with me."

Reno cringed. "Your complete cruelty to others never, ever ceases to amaze me."

"I owed Hojo a favor, since I never properly thanked him for the Mako."

"Thanked him? That shit fucked you up, and made you fuck me up worse. You killed me, remember? Why would you want to thank him? That's not a favor from him, if you asked me. He probably got off knowing what happened with that stuff."

Reno suddenly thought of what it would be like for Hojo to "get off" about anything and turned a lovely shade of pale green. Rufus quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Bad mental image," said Reno.

"Ah."

"Hey, do you know what the other Turks are doing on their mission? I feel kinda left out."

Rufus motioned under his desk, not letting the movement interrupt what he had been doing. The redhead came around the desk and looked where the blonde was pointing, finding a box of files. He flipped through them absently, looking for the most current ones.

"Is there anything restricted in here?" wondered Reno aloud.

Rufus continued to work, signing some of the papers in his inbox and ripping others in half. "No. I wouldn't dare keep any important files in such an easily accessible place."

"Easily accessible? You're sitting right there! Nothing is easily accessible with you around."

"Oh it is, is it?" asked Rufus with a trace of a grin.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Reno thought for a moment to let Rufus' pun (and the fact that he had made such an obnoxiously simple pun in the first place) sink in, and then allowed himself a bit of a chuckle. "Smart-ass." The Turk sat on the edge of the desk with the file he'd been searching for. "Attempt to track and locate Sephiroth and the members of AVALANCHE. Sounds like an easy mission."

"Not so much. The General, especially, is quite adept at leaving what would seem like very obvious clues as to his whereabouts, and then disappearing without a trace."

"Sounds like fun."

"Jolly good time," drawled the President sarcastically.

"You look stressed."

"I have to be at Junon tomorrow for the little publicity stunt known as my inauguration ceremony. I get to sit in a new Shinra model convertible and look like I'm excited to be waving at the crowd."

"Junon's taken a bit of a liking to you, then?"

"Some of them. It's like here. It all depends on who you ask. People's opinions of me seem to be rather black-and-white, though. Either they worship the ground I walk on--though they'd never admit that I ever had to do something as lowly as walk, of course--or they despise me. Nothing in between, it seems."

"So I've noticed." Reno squinted a bit and leaned in to look at the blonde's left ear. "Speaking of noticing, I just realized you have an earring. I never saw that before."

"Yes, I got it a few years back."

"What for? Any particular reason?"

"I was sick of being stuck in my office, so I went to the bottom layer of Junon in civilian clothing, and I found a woman running a craft stand in front of her house."

"Really? Not what I expected. What's it made of?"

"Just glass. She was selling the set for fifteen gil. I saw them, and they made me think of a pair of green eyes that I vowed I would remember. The woman looked at me, bowed her head, and told me I could have anything I wanted for free."

"I guess she recognized you, huh?"

"Obviously."

"So, you just took one of this poor lady's earrings from a set? Hell, the other one'll probably never sell, either. Once again, you never cease to amaze me."

"I'm not done. I asked her if she had anything that I could use to pierce my ear, and she handed me a needle. I used it, put in the stud, set fifteen thousand gil on the table, and told her to keep the change and have a nice day."

Reno gawped. "You're kidding, right?"

"I'm not always a cold, heartless bastard. I do occasionally feel the need to perform random acts of charity."

"So, you're saying that you, the richest man in the world, are wearing a glass earring that you bought for a thousand times the price of the set."

"Exactly." Rufus made no attempt to cover the smile the idea caused him. "Bizarrely fitting, isn't it?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"I also took a pair of platinum cuff earrings from a man in a shop on the upper level who tried to charge me eight times the asking price because he knew that I could afford it."

"Took? As in stole?"

"Of course."

"Figures."

"The cuffs are for you, for your cartilage piercing, by the way."

"You stole me a gift? How sweet," Reno said, his voice utterly sincere.

Rufus pulled a small box from his desk drawer and held it behind him for Reno to take. Through this, the blonde never stopped doing his paperwork.

"Thanks," said Reno, taking the box and looking at the cuffs inside it. "I needed new ones anyway. The ones I got a while back were starting to tarnish."

"Those won't. Not for a long while."

"Just wondering, how much would these have cost if you hadn't just nicked 'em?"

"Twenty-thousand, without the extra he tried to charge me. A hundred and sixty thousand with it."

"Damn, these are high-dollar."

"Only the best for you."

"Even if you didn't pay for them."

"That doesn't make them of any less quality."

"No, I guess it doesn't." The redhead wrapped his arms around the blonde's neck. "Will you stop working for a second?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I want to actually sleep before my trip tomorrow, and I need to get this done before that."

"Ah, who needs sleep?"

"I'm trying not to procrastinate this time so that I can get in some other things before the sleep."

"Other things?"

Rufus hummed, a rough, almost-growl, almost-purr.

"How about, since you'll have time for 'other things' later, we just…switch things around a bit?"

"No."

"Now you're just teasing me."

"Yes."

"Fine, then I just have to distract you."

"It won't work."

"How about I perform erotic acts in front of your desk until you can't ignore me anymore?"

"I have very good peripheral vision, and I can multitask. I'll watch the show, and I'll work. That sounds like a wonderful idea to me. What about you?"

"It sounds like you're an asshole."

"That's why you're here."

"Touché"

"So, Man-slave, get to work. I am a very impatient asshole." Reno caught a glimpse of an evil smirk on the blonde's downcast face.

"What if I refuse? They you'll just have to get up and force me."

"No, then I will just use my imagination."

"You haven't lost it," Reno gave in, moving back around the crescent-shaped desk and sitting on its edge. "You know, you could always just humor me and make up for all those years I had to endure alone. But no, you're right back to being a cold-hearted bastard…"

"Guilt-tripping won't work, either."

"Damn." The redhead stood behind his boss and began to rub his shoulders, a gentle massage at first. "You know, I think it's kind of funny. When your dad was around, you'd actively procrastinate. Now that he's gone, your work ethic's suddenly spotless."

Rufus leaned into his chair a bit as the massage grew more intense. "I wish you wouldn't bring him into this, but that is a very good observation. The reason should be obvious, though."

"Oh, yeah?"

"There's nobody to annoy via procrastination anymore, so now all I can do is annoy you by working."

"I won't give in as easily as him, though. I'm not giving up just yet."

"So I've noticed." The massage moved up to the blonde's neck.

"Feel good?"

Rufus groaned his approval.

"You're stiff. Lots of knots."

"I didn't know you could massage."

"I went to classes. I'm a certified masseuse , you know." Reno chuckled. "Of course, the only reason I went to classes was for the demonstrations. We all got to practice on each other. Nora was the one who got me into it."

"If I ever see her in the afterlife, I'll have to thank her."

"That won't be anytime soon, I hope."

"Who knows? It could be ten seconds from now, or it could be ten years."

"You know, you put it that way, and none of the killing seems that bad."

"It's still bad, Reno."

"But at least you'll be able to repent eventually, right?" Reno smiled as Rufus put his pen down, leaning into the redhead's learned hands.

"I suppose so, but that's no excuse."

"We're getting depressing again. New subject: I got you to stop working."

"Yes, you did."

"How much do you have left?"

"Too much. But don't talk about it. I may change my mind."

"So fickle."

Rufus moved his hand to one of Reno's and pulled the other man around for a kiss. "I missed you," murmured the blonde in between moments where their mouths met.

"Could've fooled me," returned the Turk, almost breathless in between the kisses, where he should have been taking in air.

"I don't want…don't want to be President."

"I know."

"I just want to be…"

"Here," finished Reno for him.

"Like this…"

"Forever…" Reno broke their mouths' embrace. "But you can't. I got what I wanted. I'll let you work."

"Thank you." Rufus smiled, sadly, as Reno walked out of his office.

"Reno, what the hell are you doing here?" Rufus asked as he met the redhead on the helipad the next morning.

"I got notified of a new mission for me in the middle of last night, before you got in. My phone scared the shit out of me. I never told you; I picked up a new skill while you were away, trying to get over one of my fears. Still hate the damned things, but they don't totally freak me out anymore."

"What the fuck are you rambling on about?"

Reno flourished, a great, large grin plastered on his face. "I, Reno Kiribani, am your helicopter chauffeur for your trip to Junon."

"Holy hell. We are going to die," sneered Rufus, a bit of a dull, joking tone etching his voice.

"I'm actually a good pilot, believe-it-or-not and thank-you-very-much."

"How'd you end up flying me?"

"Been nagging the transportation agency about it since I left last night, trying to get them to put me in instead of the other guy."

"And they listened? Remind me to fire them."

"I pointed a gun at the guy at the desk."

"You can actually shoot now, too? I'm impressed. My little Reno's just growing up so fast."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Oh, we have a complex, do we?"

"Eh?"

"Never mind."

Reno shrugged. "Well, you all packed and ready to go? I noticed you never came in last night."

"I did for a little bit while you were sleeping. Everything's prepared."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"No."

"Shit, I'm sorry, man."

"It's not your fault. I had more to do than I thought. That is all."

Reno grimaced. "Oh, okay. Well, ready?"

"Just don't crash." This was said with a smirk.

"Don't say that, or you'll make me nervous again."

"Don't worry so much. Let's just get going. If you mess up, we'll just deal with it when it happens."

"Thanks. You're always so reassuring," the Turk muttered sarcastically.

Rufus flashed a bit of a grin and climbed into the helicopter, throwing a small bag in before him. Reno popped his head in after the blonde. "Hey, you wanna ride co-pilot?" The redhead looked at the bag. "Not taking much, are you?"

"Yes, and no."

"You gonna watch me drive, just to make sure I don't fuck it up?"

"No. I'm going to sleep. The cockpit seats are more comfortable."

The Turk wasn't sure if he wanted to frown or smile at that. Instead, he made an attempt to be helpful. "Hey, you want some of those headphoney…things? You know 'copters are a bit loud."

"I'll be fine, I assure you."

"I mean, I know I can deal with it. I listen to heavy metal and all. Used to the noise." Reno offered a light-hearted chuckle in Rufus' direction. "You, you like all that opera and piano shit, so I figured you'd like to dim the racket a bit, especially if you're trying to sleep."

Rufus sat back, picked up the "headphoney things" from a hook on the dash in front of him, and placed them over his ears, leaning back into the co-pilot's seat as he sat down with a resigned sigh.

Reno hopped into the pilot's seat and started the engine with a sigh. "To Junon," he said to himself, and images of eight years alone flashed through his mind's eye.

Rufus had already fallen into sleep.

Miya's Note: Yes, I know it's short. A disappointment to all of you, I know. I feel so bad for having taken so long (yet again) on updating, and by giving you all such a short chapter after all of that wait. Admittedly, this one almost did me in. Writing the ending for it was a chore. I had such a terrible writer's block toward the end of it that the first ten pages took me one night to write, while the last 2/3 of a page took me…what? Four months? I have a section that was supposed to go into this chapter, but this chapter just was too stubborn to get there, so I let it die, instead of making you all wait for ANOTHER few months. Hopefully, a new start will help me out, since I already have some of 28 planned out.

Don't forget to post your guesses for my little semi-contest. Anyone who guesses right is a winner, and you can have as many tries as you want. Any guesses past the first can be sent through p.m. You can ask for hints, too. I'm doing this to not only give you guys a chance to pry info out of me, but to, hopefully, get my brain up and running again. Tough questions make me think or rethink my ideas, which will inspire me to put out even better content.

As always, constructive criticism is as welcome as compliment. I know I'm not perfect, but I try my hardest to better my writing. :D

BAU is almost done! I'm gonna be wrapping things up pretty soon, so my 30-chapter estimate should be about right. You all finally get to see my favorite part…which I've had written for over a year now.

Then I get to start P3. Why do I do this to myself? (No, really, it's cuz I lurve you all.)