- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -

Next chapter's up! Hope you like it, and it does get better. I promise. Introducing new characters now… Enjoy!

Chapter 2 - Familiar faces

"Why were you two fighting earlier?" Tseng growled. At least, that's what Lou thought he did.
"It was my fault sir." She lied, not wanting Reno in trouble. Sensing Tseng's foul mood she guessed he'd already got himself into enough lately. Reno looked at her with a face that suggested he was unhappy with what she was doing.

"Was it really?" Tseng accepted the new girl's false statement, but found it strange for her to take the blame for the redhead.
"Yes sir. I stole his coffee and-" but Louisa was cut off by Tseng's angry shouts:
"Reno! Why were you even drinking coffee?"
"I stole his coffee, then I tried to steal his lemonade too."
"Funny then, how you looked to full of revenge Reno." Tseng sighed, calming down slightly. Reno let out a nervous laugh before Tseng excused the two of them.

As him and Lou walked down the corridor, Reno couldn't help but wonder why exactly she'd taken the blame for him.
"Yo, um, Lou. You wanna come out clubbin' with me and Rude tonight?" he asked, dying to introduce her to people he thought of as being his friends. A few of them were, really, but the other's were just nice enemies to hang around with. Like Tifa, for instance.

"I don't have any plans so, yeah. I wouldn't mind that. Thanks Reno." Lou said, unaware of how red Reno had turned.
"Oh! Ok then. I'll meet you outside here, about six, right?"
"Sure, sounds good."

The 7th heaven was usually packed full of her regulars, but Tifa had it completely shut down for the guests she was receiving. Zack had invited some of his old friends, but Tifa wished he hadn't. She knew Reno would bring another girl around, probably a girl Tifa would never see again. She never seemed to see any of them after the first time meeting them. As for Rude, he'd get drunk and fall asleep. Zack only really invited Rude because he was Reno's best friend.

As more and more people started to arrive, Tifa couldn't help but wonder where Aerith was. Mind you, Zack was probably picking up his redhead. Cloud came down the stairs to see Vincent and Yuffie walking in, Vincent obviously uncomfortable at how much the ninja was clinging to him. Yuffie ran to see Tifa and Cid laughed as Vincent brushed out invisible creases in his cape. Barrett and Marlene were there too, and Red XIII seemed to be enjoying playing with the little girl. Somehow Cait Sith had managed to haul himself up onto the bar, and was sat there talking about how upset he wasn't able to drink.

The doors flew open and Zack burst in, shouting
"I hope nothing happened!" Aerith pushed him in, and hung her head in embarrassment. Next in was Rude, immediately going over to his newfound friend - Cid. They got talking about bombs and various aircrafts, while Reno walked over to Cloud with Lou.

"Another one?" Cloud asked, as was his usual question whenever he saw Reno with a woman he didn't know. Louisa looked up at Reno with a strange, questioning face.
"No, just a new Turks. New here in Edge, too. Thought I'd show her the only thing good about this city." Reno answered, not pausing to answer Lou's unspoken question.
"Us?"
"No, this bar."
"You only like it cos' Tifa's got a huge rack!" Yuffie said from behind him. Everyone laughed but Tifa, who was unhappy with the fact that Yuffie had said that.

Zack saw the new girl with Reno, and also how he wasn't drinking as much. He mentioned it to Vincent, who was unfazed by the statement. He really didn't care as long as Yuffie wasn't making a fool of herself.
"Hey Reno! Who's the chick?" Zack asked, walking over to their table and dragging up a stool for himself.
"Just a new kid from work." Reno answered, taking the opportunity to look away from the girl in front of him.

"I get it." Zack joked, winking. "Not having any drinks tonight? It's on the house, Tifa says so." And the ex-SOLDIER jutted a thumb over his shoulder to the barmaid, currently laughing at Cid's ridiculously stupid jokes.
"Yeah, just a minute Lou." Reno said to the Turk, who followed despite Reno clearly not meaning for her to do so.

Yuffie'd had a few too many martini's , and was plaiting Vincent's hair. She fell asleep before even Marlene did, But Barrett took her home at 10 anyway. Cloud was helping Tifa at the bar, and Rude had left some time back, when he realised he'd drank enough beer to satisfy an army. Reno, Lou, Zack and Aerith found themselves talking about how Cid was the greatest pilot ever, when said pilot interrupted his own tributes with:
"You lot want to hear a joke? Ok, I know you're excited but really, calm down. So, if a quiz is quizzical, then what's a test?"

"Testicle!" Aerith screamed, before realising what she'd said and going bright red. She sank further into Zack's arms, and while he was laughing he let her. Reno got up to get a drink, and sat at the bar talking to Tifa and Cloud.

"Why did she just yell 'testicle' as loud as she could?" Tifa asked, referring to Aerith.
"If a quiz is quizzical, then what's a test?"
"Testicle!" Cloud said, then covered his mouth and almost fell over laughing.
"Yeah, I gotta remember that one…" Tifa chuckled, then served Reno another pint. She couldn't help but noticing him staring at the girl he'd brought with him - Lou, was it?

"Reno's got a crush, Reno's got a crush!" She taunted, but stopped when she saw him turn to her with a confused and troubled face.
"Maybe, but would you take the blame for cloud if he did something he could potentially get fired for?" Reno asked, more to himself than the brown-eyed martial-artist over the bar-top.

"Why?"
"She took the blame earlier. Tseng wasn't happy with me."
"Well then she obviously likes you, doesn't she!"
"What? No!" The Turk shouted, and drained his glass out. With a slam, he put hiss glass down on the bar and stormed out.

Lou had still been laughing when she saw Reno leave. She stopped soon afterwards and ran out herself, only to see him halfway down the street already.

"Reno!" She called out. He turned and saw her, but kept walking. There was a faint flicker as he lit his cigarette, and Louisa sprinted down the road to the man, stopping to walk a few yards behind him, but still catching up.
"Reno." He turned to her and stopped, making her walk into him.

"What?" He snapped, angry and annoyed. When she didn't answer, he sighed and threw his cigarette to the floor, walking back in the direction he was originally headed in.
"Wait, Reno. I-"
"Yes?"
"I don't have anywhere to stay." Louisa said and Reno stopped again. He turned and grabbed her by the hand, leading her down the path.

"Where are we going?" She asked.
"If you want, you can stay at my place. It's either that, or you go back to the bar and ask Tifa for a room."
"Where will I sleep?"
"Where you want, I guess. There's a carpet, a table, a sofa, or my bed.""Where would you sleep if I chose your bed."
"In my bed, you div! God, can't you think?" He said, but laughed after it. Louisa found herself laughing too, and then realised she was still holding Reno's hand. She didn't let go though. That would just ruin the moment.

He would have been, but he wasn't happy that he had to share a bed with Louisa. Reno couldn't figure out why, but Lou wasn't like anyone else he'd met before. She was a lot different. For a start, her eyes were like Zack's - infused with Mako energy - but that was a SOLDIER trademark. How could she have them if SOLDIER never accepted any women?

Then, there was the way she actually laughed. He couldn't look at her simply because she looked back, and was genuinely nervous around her. It took him right back to high school, to whenever he saw the girl he fancied (which varied, depending on which day of the week it was). But he couldn't be having the same feelings about Lou. He cringed at the thought.

She was in the shower, just getting off whatever she'd brushed onto herself in the bar. She'd liked the company there, especially Yuffie, who she found was very juvenile, and acted more like a two-year-old than a two-year-old does. It was fun meeting Barrett, he was generally positive about things, and Cid was just a good laugh. Cloud and Tifa she hadn't really spoken to, but she got the impression they were nice people. Rude she knew already, and Aerith hadn't said much except 'Testicle' all night, so she wasn't sure what to think. But Zack. He was just… scary.

It wasn't that he was nasty, or looked sinister, unless puppies look sinister. He was funny and laughed a lot, and was nice to everyone around him, even if he was a little annoying sometimes. It was just that he looked like someone she'd met before. And now, as she thought more about it, Lou realised he was Zack Fair - SOLDIER 1st class. Louisa had reckoned he was someone she knew, but now it was all clear. He'd been her mentor. Lou couldn't begin to hope he hadn't noticed. Hard not to when she was Hojo's creation of a female ultimate warrior.

"You done yet?" Reno asked, tapping on the door. He heard the shower go off and Lou opened the door, towel wrapped around her. Reno's face had turned red and he knew it.
"Yes. Everything alright Reno? You've gone bright red!" Lou joked, knowing exactly why he was red. Louisa giggled as the man in front of her struggled for words, his mouth opening and closing. Then he smiled shyly, something he knew was completely out of character for him.

"Nah. Course not. What makes you think there has to be something wrong with voluntarily changing your face to match your hair colour?" He asked Louisa, expecting an answer he wasn't going to get. She pushed past him and made her way to his room.