Title: Boy Soldier

Author: Neldluva

Fandom: FFVII

Pairings: None, or lots, depending on how you look at it.

Rating: NC17

Don't read this if you don't like: Angst, sex (of the m/m and m/f sort), foul language, underage sex, questionable consent, masturbation, voyeurism (sort of), violence, blood, drug and alcohol use, prostitution

Disclaimer: Reno and FF7-verse are definitely not mine. Please don't sue, I have negative monies. The OC's are mine, though. Don't steal.

What you can expect from the fic overall: This is my version Reno's backstory, or how he got where he was in the various FF7 games and movies. It is a long, difficult journey, sometimes funny, sometimes sad. But hey, that's life.

What you can expect from this chapter: Reno intersects with destiny for real this time.

Author's note: I feel sorry for Bones in this chapter. I think he really does care about Reno, he's just been sort of twisted and warped by the streets into something not to pretty. Still, destiny is destiny. This is one of my favorite chapters because Reno gets to kick ass.

Reno walked out of the alley, yawning a little and wiping at his mouth with his sleeve. It was morning, and that meant it was quitting time. He had a big wad of cash hidden on him, most of it earned from blowing guys in that alley the whole night and the rest of it stolen from the same guys. He was looking forward to sleeping the day away then going out to get a nice dinner to fill his stomach.

He froze once out of the alley, though. There were three suits across the street, all of them deliberately not looking at him. He narrowed his eyes. Nobody wore suits on the streets, it was practically begging to be pickpocketed or worse. Unless they were packing enough firepower to scare off any would-be mugger, which made them too dangerous for Reno to mess with. In any case, he would be best off ignoring them and losing them as quickly as possible.

He started off back to the lair, walking casually but a little faster than usual. He stuck his hands in his pockets, feeling for his knife and listening closely for the sound of footsteps in pursuit.

"Shit, he saw us," Monty said, watching behind his shades as the kid picked up his pace. "Follow him."

He and the other two Turks dove into the crowd, keeping their eyes on the kid's bright hair. Venus had her hand on her gun, but Monty shook his head. They didn't want to injure him, just to bring him in. She eased off and sped up with her partner, Turner, to intercept the boy before he could disappear completely.

"Hey kid," Turner rumbled, grabbing Reno's arm to slow him down. "We want to talk for a sec."

"Let go," Reno said, pulling a bit at his arm. The guy was pretty big, and he couldn't get a decent shot at any spot that would actually hurt him. He decided to play it cool until he could escape. "It's morning. That means I'm off duty. Come back next week, I'll fit you in, yo."

Venus came up on Reno's other side, narrowing her eyes. "We don't want sex, kid. We're here to give you the offer of your life."

Monty put his hand on Turner's shoulder, and the grip on Reno's arm loosened. Reno tugged himself free, crossing his arms sullenly at the three suits. He was tired and hungry and not in the mood for messing with these guys.

"You shoot pretty good with that gun, kid. What's your name?" Monty asked, trying to be nice.

Reno's first blow went to the woman's solar plexus, hitting her hard with his bony elbow and making her double up. His second went to the big guy's foot, the third to his groin. The fourth and last went to the smoothtalker's nose, and then he started running, leaving the three suits gasping and groaning unhappily. Venus was already reaching for her gun again, but Monty waved her hand down, trying to staunch the flow of blood from his nose.

"We're not going to shoot him," he said, wincing at the pain and knowing his nose was broken. "We'll get him later. But hey, I told you he was tough."

Venus and Turner glared at him as they walked back to their car.

Reno skidded back into the lair, breathing hard and leaning against the wall. "Fuck," he whispered to himself, and it made him feel better. "Fuck!"

"What's up, yo?" Essie asked, looking up at him from where she was cleaning off her makeup from the night before. "You look like you ran a mile."

Reno lit up a cigarette, taking a deep drag to calm himself. "Some suits were after me," he explained shortly. "I beat 'em up, though, and I ran away. My guess is they were packin' some pretty heavy shit, I'm surprised they didn't shoot me."

"Why were they after you?" Essie asked, looking worried. "You do somethin' real bad?"

Reno shook his head and took another drag. "Nothin' worse'n usual." He passed the cigarette down to Essie. "I hope they don't try anything again, yo."

"Me too," Essie agreed, pulling back her dark hair. "How do I look, yo?"

"Pretty," Reno said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "I'm gonna go sleep, I'm wiped."

She nodded and stood up, leaving him to their corner. "I'm going out with some of the girls for a little breakfast, but I bet I'll be back soon. I'm wiped too." She bent down and kissed his cheek softly. "Sleep good, Reno."

Reno had only just started to doze off when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Fuck off, yo," he mumbled, turning over to escape the hand.

"Wake up, babe," Bones whispered in his ear.

"Bones?" Reno asked fuzzily, wiping at his eyes. "Hey, can it wait? I'm tired."

Hands grabbed his shoulders, turning him to look Bones in the face. He looked angry, and that made Reno frown. "Tired, tired, you're always tired, babe," Bones said with a growl. "Cuz you're always out all night fucking those guys. You don't fuck me no more, yo."

Reno narrowed his eyes and twisted out of Bones's grasp. "So find someone else, it ain't hard for you."

Bones growled again and gripped Reno's shoulders hard enough to bruise. "I don't want no one else … you've got the best damn ass I've ever had, babe. I ain't lettin' you go."

"Fuck off!" Reno shouted, planting his knee in Bones's stomach and wriggling away. "I'm tired, okay? An' I need the money."

"Oh yeah?" Bones asked, recovering quickly and backing Reno into the corner. "You make a big wad of gil tonight? I bet you did, I bet you sucked so much cock … you like it, huh? You like it when they fuck your mouth, that's how you make so much."

"Shut up!" Reno kicked Bones hard in his shin and escaped from the corner. "It ain't like that!"

"Gimme your money," Bones demanded, getting close again so he could loom over Reno. "C'mon, you make so much, share a little. Otherwise why you suck so much cock?"

"Fuck off, it's mine!" Reno drew himself up to his full height, but he was still smaller than Bones. With one hand he reached for the knife in his pocket, ready to defend himself if he needed to. Before he could even move, though, Bones gripped him roughly by his tail of red hair and forced him to his knees.

"Show me how you earned it," he demanded, rubbing against Reno's face. "Show me how you sucked those motherfucking sons of bitches, show me how you liked it so bad you had to keep going back…"

Reno gritted his teeth and swallowed nausea, trying to ignore the pain of having his hair pulled. Bones's free hand was fumbling at the fly to his pants and pulling them down, while the one in Reno's hair just shoved his face deeper. Taking a deep breath, Reno slid the hilt of the knife into his hand and thrust it up, slicing across the main artery in Bones's groin. Bones let go with a cry of pain and disbelief, causing some of the other boys to look up from their daytime beds.

But Reno didn't give Bones a chance to fight back. He sliced at the other thigh, and more hot blood poured over his hands. The older boy collapsed, clutching at himself in attempt to stop the blood and staring at Reno with a disbelieving look on his face. Reno gripped the knife harder, managing not to lose his grip in the slippery blood, and sat firmly on Bones's chest. He batted the hands away, put the knife to Bones's throat, and cut straight across. Bones made a few sputtering, helpless noises before he went quiet and still. Reno didn't stand until the body beneath him had stopped moving, dropping the knife on the ground and rubbing at his hands. The blood had turned sticky and wouldn't come off. He spat, and the spit got some of the blood off.

"Hey … uh, kid," one of the other boys said. Reno could hear fear and nervousness in his voice, saw it in his eyes when he looked at him. "You…"

"You saw it, yo," Reno replied, his voice hoarse. "You saw what he was gonna do. Fucking bastard deserved it. Fuck, the blood won't come off."

He ran out of the lair, looking for a source of water to wash off. There was a spigot hanging off a building, and the water wasn't that clean, but it was enough to get the blood off his hands. There was a lot of blood, too much blood, on his clothes, and he groaned. Though the authorities below the Plate were lax, it was unlikely he would go unnoticed. Somebody was bound to bring him in, covered in blood as he was, and he had no other clothing. He shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself, sitting down in the little space between the two buildings to think about what to do.

The other guys from the gang knew better than to come after him, especially after that display inside. He was frightening to them, and no one had the balls or the loyalty to Bones to stand up and say anything. Still, it was too dangerous to go back to the lair, back to the body. It was too likely someone would rat him out. He thought then of Essie and what she would think, but the last thing he wanted was to involve her in this mess. Best he go somewhere far away where the authorities wouldn't touch him and Essie wouldn't try to save him.

He got up, wandering along back alleys and deserted streets in no particular direction other than "away." He still had his cash he'd earned from the night before, he was set for a little while. He just had to worry about staying quiet, staying undercover, until people started to forget. And they always forgot, death was too common to dwell on it for long.

He was too distracted by plans of what he would do to notice the sleek black car approaching from behind him. In fact, he only noticed he was being followed when strong hands tugged him back into the car and held him still while a strong set of handcuffs was clipped on. That didn't stop him from kicking and shouting his head off … kidnapping was not how he wanted to end this fucked-up day.