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: Another visit to Essie and we learn about how Reno really uses his computer…
Author's note: As promised, another chapter! And longer, to make up for the shortness of the last update. I really like this chapter for some reason … I dunno, I like Reno being dirty. And as always, Tseng is so easy to poke fun at.
Reno tossed the thick wad of gil on the table, smiling at Essie through the smoke of his cigarette. Her eyes went wide, and she scrambled for the money, stuffing it as discreetly as she could down her shirt.
"Reno!" she exclaimed, staring at him in amazement. "How'd you get so much money, yo? This is a fortune!"
"Made it," he said smoothly, sipping at his water. "It's for you."
Essie shook her head in disbelief, still staring at him. "Wow … for me? Why?"
"So you don't have to live a shit life, yo." He took another drag, exhaling calmly away from Essie. The civvies he was dressed in were far more comfortable than that stuffy suit. "Turn down some tricks, take the night off, get some sleep. You know, that good stuff."
"Reno … you shouldn't've." She reached across the table, holding his skinny hand in hers. "But thanks, yo. I always knew you were a real good guy."
He shrugged a little and smiled again. He wouldn't tell her about all the stuff he was learning, like what kind of bullets to use or how to wire a bomb or how to combine chemicals to make the largest explosion. He had a feeling that if he was a "real good guy," he wouldn't be learning how to kill people. And it wasn't just the killing people … it was also the spying and secrecy, how to become someone else or find out everything there is to know about a person. He'd even heard rumors from some of the older trainees that they would learn to extract information by whatever means necessary, and the thought sent a cold excited shiver down his spine. But he wouldn't tell her that. The least he could do was give her a little money so she could have some real food and sleep a little.
He also wouldn't tell her how he got the money by blowing some guys in his spare time. He definitely wouldn't tell her how he got off on that idea. For the whores on the streets, whores like Essie, sex wasn't for pleasure. It sometimes wasn't even willing. It was a matter of survival, of selling the only thing worth anything in order to keep alive. Reno found that idea a little depressing. Sex should be fun, in his opinion, or it wasn't worth it.
But life was life, and Essie had to survive somehow. Reno figured it couldn't be that bad. She could still smile at him and joke with him. She even ruffled at his hair and commented on the fact that he was as tall as she was. He blushed and shrugged and laughed with her, letting her lean on him as he escorted her to one of the nicer bars in the slums. She drank enough that she kept giggling and her eyes were all shiny, and Reno just kept smiling at her.
"I miss you, yo," he said when they left the bar. They were walking down the sidewalk on the way back to Essie's apartment, her wobbling only a little in her heels.
"I miss you too, Reno," she replied, combing her dark hair out of her eyes. "It ain't the same around here without you. But I like it when you visit me."
"Me too," Reno agreed, lighting another cigarette. "Sometimes I wish you could be up there with me, learning all this great stuff, yo."
"I can't," she said, reaching down to hold his hand. "You know I wouldn't be no good. No place for me up there, yo."
"Yeah, I know. Just wishin', you know? It's sorta lonely."
She looked at him, petting his hair again. "I'm sorry, Reno. But I'm glad you're doing good. You deserve it, yo."
Reno just shrugged, hugging her tightly at the front door to her apartment. "Keep safe, yeah? I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Yeah," Essie said as they parted, giving him another smile. "I can't wait. See ya later, yo."
Reno waved over his shoulder, trying to ignore the fact that it would probably be at least a month before he could escape back to the slums. He was growing too quickly, and soon the air vents would be out of the question. He needed a new plan.
"Okay, yo." Reno sat at his desk, straddling his chair as he typed at the computer. "If you were Mr. Stick-up-his-ass, what would your password be?"
"You mean Tseng?" Jenkins asked, peering through his glasses at his roommate. "Hmm, tough one. Maybe … something from Wutai?"
"What, like rice?"
"Probably not. Try ninjutsu."
"How the fuck do you spell that?"
Jenkins sighed and joined Reno at his computer, typing the word in. The computer flashed, announcing the password was incorrect. Reno frowned deeply at it, thinking. "Well, maybe he doesn't like Wutai very much … he left, right? So maybe he likes ShinRa better, right?" He stared at the screen for another minute before snapping his fingers and typing again.
To Jenkins' surprise, the computer jingled a welcome, allowing them into Tseng's personal records. "No way! You hacked Tseng's computer!"
"Yeah," Reno said, grinning smugly. "Took a lot of work, the fucker's got more protection up than the President himself, but I got in."
Jenkins clapped him on the back, still gaping in awe, and pulled up a seat. "Why'd you do it?"
"I wanna see what they're saying about me," Reno answered, opening up some files and thumbing through them. "You wanna see your stuff too, yo?"
"Sure," Jenkins said, scanning the screen. "Hey, what was his password?"
"ShinRa Junior's name." Reno's smirk grew wider. "I heard he took care of the kid when he was little and Tseng was a new Turk."
"Pretty good for a lucky guess," Jenkins said. "Oh, hey, look there. Those look promising."
"Mmm," Reno agreed, clicking on the file. A listing of all of the trainee profiles popped up, and he thumbed through until he found his own. His picture popped up with a detail of height and weight, followed by various observations by the Turks. His chin jutted out as he read over the psych report … he didn't know what "likely sociopathic tendencies" meant, but it didn't sound flattering. Apparently they thought he was stupid when it came to reading and writing, but he was abnormally good at math. He snorted – like he couldn't have figured that out. He was absorbing the new math like a sponge. He liked the science stuff better, though, the part where he got to learn what plus what made the biggest explosion.
They also seemed to be bothered by the fact that he couldn't remember his parents. There was stuff in his profile about some kind of investigation going on about his background. Reno scoffed quietly. They wouldn't find much of anything … he was a nobody kid off the streets, not some escaped science experiment or anything special. And as far as he could remember, his parents hadn't been special either, just regular johns who got themselves dead because they were stupid.
He flicked over to Jenkins' profile. It was nothing more than what he expected, all the stuff about the guy being a genius, but not too good at fighting or shooting stuff. He pointed this out with a laugh, and Jenkins punched him lightly on the arm.