A/N: Well, here's another chapter in our saga. I hope you enjoy it. Please review so I know how I'm doing! I really do appreciate the feedback!
Chapter 7
Reno and Rude sprinted to Shinra's headquarters and stopped abruptly outside the tall metal structure. It was nowhere as grand as the old building in Midgar, but it served its purpose well. Standing seven stories high, the building blended in with the rest of the city: concrete, metal, and glass. Quietly pushing on the door, Reno peered cautiously through the entrance as he readied his EMR. Sensing that the lobby was clear, he grunted softly to Rude and entered.
Reno was stunned. "What's going on here?" Following closely after his partner, Rude searched around the lobby, but everything looked normal. The night security was sitting calmly at the desk arranging files and occasionally watching video. They peered again around the room. The red waiting chairs, the rack of magazines, the plants, metal file cabinet, and coffee table looked pristine. "Yo," Reno interrupted the security guard as he started filing his reports. "Is everything ok?"
The lanky older man glanced over at the two Turks and smiled. "Yes, everything is fine." He turned his back on them and continued his task.
"Where's the president?" Perhaps nobody knew anything was amiss. Reno shot Rude a questioning glance.
"In his office I would presume." He didn't bother turning around to face them this time. "I haven't seen him leave all night. Quiet as usual."
"Let's go." Rude lightly smacked Reno's shoulder and headed off towards the elevators. Rude pulled out his mobile and tried unsuccessfully to reach Elena. He frowned at Reno and slowly shook his head in response to Reno's unspoken question. Both men braced themselves as the elevator doors slid open on the highest floor. A thick silence hung in the air. Tseng suddenly appeared from an office, gun in hand.
"Help me secure the floor." Tseng commanded. Reno and Rude immediately fell in behind their leader and searched the rest of the floor. When it was apparent that there were no intruders, Tseng gathered his team in Rufus' office. The president was sitting pensively behind his desk with his fingers pushed together almost as if in prayer. Three bodies lay in a pile in a corner. "Not that I mind the backup, but what are you doing here?"
"Rude got a call from Elena saying Shinra was under attack. She called. We came." Reno kept glancing at the corpses. "Who are they?"
"Intruders. They came in and threatened Rufus." Tseng paused. "You say Elena called you?" Reno shook his head in affirmation. Tseng frowned and pulled out his mobile. After a failed attempt to reach the blond Turk, he stared at his men. "I sent Elena home just after midnight. There's no way she could've known this was happening." Tseng looked at the clock on Rufus' desk. The green lights read 1:27 AM. Turning his attention back to Reno and Rude, he continued. "I'll go check on Elena at her place." Reno smirked at his remark, but Tseng continued as if he didn't notice. "You two stay here and call the special cleaning crew to come in and clean up this mess." He gestured over to the lifeless men.
"Tseng." Rufus stood up at his desk. "I think in light of this situation that we should forgo the Junon trip for now. Unless…" He turned bright eyes in Reno's direction. "Reno, I'll need you to scout out the area to make sure it's safe before I go. This meeting is crucial, and I shouldn't miss it."
Reno looked from Rufus to Tseng and back again. Reno was always a company man; after Meteor, Shinra was all he could focus on rebuilding to regain a sense of normalcy, but Rufus' stunt with Tifa earlier made him suspicious and more than a little skeptical about his boss' agendas. "With all due respect sir, I think I can safely say "shove it."
Rufus laughed softly. "I know you must be angry about earlier, but I tell you that my intentions are completely innocent. In fact-" But the telephone interrupted his speech. He answered it swiftly; though the call only lasted for ten seconds, Rufus' whole demeanor changed. Slamming the phone down, he promptly picked up a remote and turned on the television.
"Nobody knows what started the fire, but emergency services have begun to contain the blazes." A dark-haired male reporter stood in the forefront of the camera. He grabbed a soot covered woman by the arm as she staggered her way off-screen. "Wait a minute miss. What can you tell us about this? Are there any people trapped inside the bar?" The woman shook her head slowly and replied that she didn't know. The reporter looked slightly crest-fallen but turned his attention back to the camera. "For those of you just joining us, the popular bar Seventh Heaven has caught fire."
"No! Tifa!" Reno staggered back a couple of steps. His stomach felt queasy. Without warning, he turned to exit the office.
"Reno." Rufus' sharp voice stopped him in his tracks. "I need you here. I'll send someone else."
The red-head spun on his heel and marched over to Rufus' desk. "I'm going sir. I don't have any time to waste."
"Listen. I realize she's your friend, but you're needed here. Tseng needs to get Elena. I need you and Rude here with me in case another nut-job attacks."
"She's not just my-" Reno abruptly stopped in mid sentence; his eyes caught the images of some photos on the desk. "What the hell?!" They were pictures of Tifa and Rufus; most were doctored to look as if the two of them were sharing intimate moments. Reno's aqua-marine eyes blazed with fury; he whipped out his EMR and pointed it at Rufus. "Fuck you Rufus! Stay the hell away from my woman. If I so much as see you near Tifa or Seventh Heaven, I'll make sure you live to regret it."
Without another word, he spun around and ran out the door before Rufus could respond.
Cloud gripped Tifa by the shoulders and brought her to him. "Where are they? God Tifa! Please tell me they aren't inside!"
"I don't know." Tifa's head was spinning. "We have to find Victor! I left them in his care."
Cloud let Tifa go and started scanning the crowd for Victor. Please let the children be ok. He prayed. Emergency services had the fire mostly under control. Running between the throng of people that had appeared to help out, he felt helpless. I have to go in there. I can't waste any more time if they're still trapped inside! Cloud frantically shoved his way through the crowd. Taking a quick breath to steady his nerves, he plunged in through the doorway as the black smoke billowed out to obscure his view, ignoring the shouts of the emergency staff.
"Denzel! Marlene!" He yelled while choking on the dense smoke he inhaled. He surveyed the burning bar. There was a strong smell of gasoline, but he didn't see any sign of the children in the bar on the first floor. He rushed to the stairs which were engulfed in flames. Without hesitation Cloud bound up the burning stairwell onto the second floor.
Kicking open the children's burning bedroom door, he screamed again. "Marlene! Denzel!" But nobody was there. He ransacked the rest of the rooms, pushing burning embers out of his way and leaping over other burning obstacles. The flames were still mostly confined to the lower floor and stairwell, but they were fast taking hold of the upper floor. He made a beeline for the room he used to share with Tifa, staggering and choking from all the smoke. "Denzel! Marlene!" He cried out, but this room was also empty. Relief washed over him as he realized they must be safe outside somewhere. Yet the relief he felt was fleeting, for now he had to try and get himself out of the burning structure. Turning around quickly, Cloud became dizzy. He was having difficulty breathing; he fell to his knees right as he heard a clatter on the stairs.
Reno peered through the doorway as Cloud fell on all fours. "Yo Strife! We gotta get out of here." He rushed to his side and draped Cloud's arm around his neck. Hoisting the blond man to his feet, Reno quickly assessed the danger. The stairs were now impassable as large, flaming planks blocked their escape. "Is there anyone else in here?" Cloud could only shake his head in response. "Good." Reno pulled him over to a window and opened it. Looking out below, he spotted a pickup truck and some large crates. "Can you make it on your own?" At Cloud's nod and grunt, Reno unhooked his arm from around his neck. "Ok. Out the window Spiky." And with that, both men leaped out the window and stumbled onto some large crates before falling to the ground. Reno and Cloud lay on the ground panting. The redhead turned his head in the direction of Cloud. "You know… you really are a pain in the ass Strife. What were you thinking?"
"I thought…the children were inside. I…couldn't wait…until it…was too late. I had to…find out…" Cloud sat up tenderly. His lungs were sore and his muscles ached from the strain, but he was swiftly recovering. He brought his knees up to his chest and glanced over at Reno. "Did your boss send you over here?"
"What kind of question is that?" Reno propped himself up on an elbow. The scorching heat had been unbelievable.
"I read the papers Turk." Cloud's tone sounded bitter.
"And you think that Tifa and Rufus…?" Reno laughed. "You are an enormous jackass Spiky. First, you let a smokin' hot woman slip through your fingers. Then, you get jealous because she appears to move onto someone else." He stood up and started brushing off his uniform. "You're a real piece of work."
"Are you saying that Tifa and Rufus aren't together?"
"What I'm saying is… if you want to know… ask her." Reno shook his head in disgust, but he offered his hand to Cloud to help him up, which he took. He briefly wondered what Cloud would do if he knew that he was actually the man Tifa was dating…if we're still dating…
"Why did you go in after me? Tifa ask you to?" Cloud started looking around for her.
"No. I saw you burst into the bar and thought you could use a hand. I thought you went in because Tifa and the kids were in there."
"Tifa!" Cloud turned his back on Reno. "Tifa!" He looked into the mob of people. Walking back to where he last left her, Cloud stopped and sighed in frustration. Now he had to try and locate Tifa and the kids.
"Strife! Wait up." Reno came jogging after him. "Let me try something." Reno brought out his mobile and dialed Tifa's number, but she didn't answer. While trying a second time to reach her, a man came up to Cloud and handed him an envelope. Reno came up and read it over his shoulder.
This is an example of what happens to traitors who betray the planet. We will take back what is ours. If you try to stop us, we will kill the Avalanche woman and the Turk woman. We have the children. Don't do anything rash, or something bad may happen. We will release the children unharmed in a week if you stay out of it. Shinra will pay for its crimes.
The Reckoning
Cloud's head jerked up, and he lunged for the man who gave him the letter. "Who are you? Where are they?" He yelled at the man.
"I don't know what you're talking about." The man looked scared. "Some woman gave that to me. I don't know her. I was told to give this to you or the redhead."
Reno's heart was pounding hard; he could feel each thump reverberate in his throat. "Tifa… and they must be talking about Elena."
Cloud crumpled the note in his hands and tossed it away in anger. He let go of the man and turned to Reno. "What does Elena have to do with this?"
"I don't know." Reno shook his head. "We have to do something. Let's go to the Shinra building. The others might have a lead on Elena."
Cloud snorted. "I don't think so lapdog. I don't need your help. I'll find these people myself and get Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel back." He started walking, but Reno grabbed his arm. "Get your filthy Shinra hands off me." He growled.
"This is serious. These people aren't messing around Cloud. I won't allow you to jeopardize the chance to rescue Tifa and Elena and those kids."
"You think Shinra can do a better job than me? I have other resources I can use." Cloud tried pulling away, but Reno's grip was tight.
"I can't let you go alone." Reno's voice was hard like unbending steel. "I'm going with you. Now you can argue with me all you want about this, but I'm not going to back down. The longer we drag this out, the longer the enemy has to keep ahead of us." Horrible pictures of Tifa being tortured were running through his mind; he attempted to block them out but was only slightly successful. He tried to swallow down the rising lump in his throat. "I came in handy tonight didn't I Spiky?"
Cloud nodded grudgingly. "Alright. Let's go… and don't call me Spiky."