Title: Clash of Dreams
Author: Takebuo Ishimatsu
Pairing(s): Reno/Rude, Vincent/Reeve, others to be decided
Summary: A time travel fic in which Cloud's seeing ghosts, Rude's meeting old friends, Reeve's designing a familiar A. I., Vincent's planning demises, Elena's retaking tests, and Yuffie's…waging a war? Oh yes, Reno's just having a bad day. Yaoi. ReRu, others.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII.
Warning: There be Reno, thus, there be cussing. And yaoi. Lots of lovely yaoi. Also, there may be SPOILERS FOR CRISIS CORE!
Chapter Two: Tseng's Redheads
Tseng clicked through his files on the laptop, though more in the name of last-attempt desperation than in any real hope that they would suddenly provide him with an answer which they hadn't before. He smiled bitterly to himself; he'd only been looking for seven months, after all.
He sighed as got to the last of a short list of Trainees currently expected to graduate to Turk in the next few months, ordered from most-to-least likely to "fit" with his problem redhead. He rubbed his temples, once again contemplating what he was going to do with the boy if no one was willing to partner with him.
Unknown to most people outside of Turk, while they were all educated in certain shady topics, each man and woman was in fact specifically chosen, or trained, for a certain skill, thus allowing each to be given a task just for them. It not only conserved resources to only train one or two individuals to, for example, hack security systems, it also provided an expert in each needed area rather than someone who knew a little of everything. And thus, as a general rule, Turks were taught to be solo performers, with the team as a whole only there to back them up in the tough situations that required a little extra power.
Of course, no person with exceptional talent in one area had ever been turned away because he or she lacked the needed requirements in another department. Provided they could either be given assignments which didn't require that non-understood skill or they could be partnered with someone who had it. And thus his problem with Reno came to be.
At first it had been amusing that none of the regular Turks could stand him for more than a week at most. Tseng had chalked it up to Reno being quirky and had allowed the young man to either go with him personally or be given jobs that couldn't be failed no matter how badly he appeared to be trying to insult everyone around him.
Unfortunately, even his own fondness of the boy began to wither away after too long alone with him, and so he really wasn't all that surprised to find that even a half a year later no one had come forward to be his permanent partner. Upset, yes. But not surprised.
Even if he could somehow mold together his own perfectionist style of "Turkness" with Reno's, they still wouldn't be able to partner on all missions. Most of Tseng's were either high clearance, befitting his rank of Second in Command, or were specifically meant to tailor to his calm, polite demeanor. He winced at the thought of Reno attending as bodyguard to the President during one of his many social functions; the kid would probably get himself shot before the night was through.
He took one last glance at the Trainee file currently opened, a darker skinned man with brown eyes, most likely from Costa del Sol, before shutting his laptop with an audible click. The man, not yet known to him, looked to be a great Turk once he passed his final tests. Quiet and controlled, he was the absolute opposite of the partner-less young man he was currently thinking about, and thus rightfully last on his list of potentials.
He glanced down at his watch, quickly calculating that he had just enough time to get a latte before he was required to attend his meeting. Well, technically, Veld's meeting, but he was ordered to attend them all in his superior's absence while he was away with the President. After having a taste of just how many sit-downs the other actually had, he was half-seriously considering asking to be demoted.
Opening his door, he just about groaned aloud at the site of Dean dragging a struggling Reno up to his office. So much for his latte.
"Do not haul him around like a toy, Dean. Reno is a fellow Turk, not a ragdog," Tseng commanded in a voice that was just on the edge of resigned.
The former street punk, known for both his lack of manners and (sometimes willful) ignorance of protocol, had apparently made a rather bad first impression on some of the Turks, and they had made it their daily goal to put the other in his place. Unfortunately, he'd started doing much better after his rocky start but that didn't seem to sway those whose minds were already made up. The scene before him occurred all too often, with Reno alone being treated as a waste of space, rather than a brother-in-arms.
"Sorry, sir. I was just worried he might run away and hide. Old habits and all that," Dean replied with a falsely sweet smile. Tseng replied with a dignified nod, though he purposefully allowed his lips to twitch when Reno stomped on the other's foot at the implied insult.
Dean winced but didn't attempt retribution with his superior standing right there. While Tseng may not have been able to do much to any of the others just because they were against Reno, he could certainly make them wish they were dead if they dared attack a fellow Turk.
"I wasn't gonna hide or nuthin! I told ya, it wasn't even my fault, yo!" Dean snorted and Tseng raised an eyebrow. Despite how he might disagree with the other's treatment of his "pet project," Tseng wasn't dumb enough to think Reno innocent all of the time.
"I, uh, mighta accidentally been somewhere I shouldn'ta been and I mighta gotten into a fight when I was there, yo." Reno shrugged sheepishly as he finished, no doubt realizing just how bad he sounded right then.
"Details, please," Tseng responded calmly.
"Well, ya see, it's actually kinda a funny story, yo. I was-"
"Oh, for Shiva's sake! He snuck into the hanger, was caught by Highwind, and then beamed the Captain in the face with his EMR," Dean said with a rather satisfied smirk.
Tseng frowned, his brows drawing together. Highwind was a flying genius and thus one of ShinRa's favorites. If Reno had caused him serious harm…
"Yo! It wasn't like that at all, sir! Little Boss told me to go find his fucking glove and I was goin' around all the places he'd been in to look for it, yo! Highwind got all huffy for no reason and he started the fight!"
"Watch your language," Tseng replied evenly, giving no outward indication that he'd otherwise heard the other. He was quietly relieved, as Reno would be in a lot less trouble if he'd been given an "official" mission by the President's son.
"Yessir," Reno replied almost lazily.
"I will have to speak to Highwind about the encounter, of course, but until then any punishment will be postponed until I have the full story," Tseng replied, knowing he couldn't just let Reno off the hook every time he did something wrong.
Especially since there were people in the company that would argue that even if the Captain had started the fight, someone of Reno's caliber should have just let the other beat him to death, if he'd so desired. People like Dean, who didn't look particularly pleased with the judgment but also didn't argue.
For Turks, a superior's word was final. Those who went against that basic principle tended to disappear.
Tseng held out his hand to Reno, causing the other to raise a red eyebrow.
"I imagine Rufus gave you his access card in order to perform your search?" Tseng smirked as Reno fidgeted, already guessing that the younger man had been hoping to keep the card without anybody realizing he'd even been given one.
"Yessir," Reno mumbled dejectedly, no doubt already missing all the forbidden adventures he could have had. He reached for his pocket but ended up doubling over and grabbing his stomach instead. Tseng frowned, wondering if it was some sort of trick meant to draw his attention elsewhere. He wouldn't put it past Reno. Then again, he wouldn't put it past any of his Turks; they were paid to be sneaky little shits.
"Oh Gaia, fucking shit," Reno gasped and fell to the floor. He began twisting and turning, though he didn't appear to be having an actual seizure.
Immediately there was a flurry of action as people rushed to help, rushed to get some kind of materia or potion, rushed to call for a medic, rushed to call for a precautional containment area to be set up, or just rushed in general. Almost as quickly as they had started, everyone stopped what they were doing and backed up, guns drawn, as the young man began to glow a faint green color.
Reno gasped, arching his entire body in pain before there was a flash of blinding light and suddenly there were two redheads lying on the floor. Tseng blinked down at the other, who looked remarkably like Reno, albeit older and far more banged up. All of those not still seeing spots from the light pointed their weapons towards the apparent duplicate, though Tseng did idly wonder if they'd not all been infected with some chemical that caused hallucinations.
In perfect unison, two sets of identical blue eyes opened slowly. Then, as if in slow motion, each turned his head towards the other, only to jump up in shock. Simultaneously, they began reaching for their weapons, though the second "Reno" had enough sense to freeze at the sound of multiple guns being cocked. Tseng mentally noted the slight time delay for the new "Reno" compared to the other; his injuries slowed him down. Good.
As if just realizing he wasn't alone with his clone, the older man looked around the room incredulously.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me," he breathed out, eyes wide.
Tseng's eyebrow quirked. Not for a second would he blindly accept that the other knew nothing of his current predicament, despite his apparent confusion. However unlikely, it was a Turk's job to realize that there were people out there who'd even try the crazy scheme of a low-level Turk's long lost brother to get to ShinRa. The matter of how he'd even managed to make himself appear from nowhere was an entirely different disturbing matter he'd have to look into.
He turned towards the younger redhead, who was looking even paler than normal, as his cellphone began to vibrate. He pointed his chin towards the one with the sling and commanded, "Disarm him," before taking out his mobile and answering with a simple, "Tseng."
"Yessir," Reno whispered, for once his cockiness completely gone, instead seeming a little frail now that he'd been thoroughly shaken up.
Tseng carefully kept watch while one redhead approached the other as he listened to Sasch, the current Turk in charge of the physical training of the future rookies, tell him the problem.
"Sir, I have an urgent situation down in the training area. As strange as this might sound, an unknown man suddenly appeared out of nowhere who looks strikingly similar to one of the possibles. He put up no resistance and we were easily able to detain him, but his arrival method worries me."
"Understood. I have the same problem here in the Turk offices. Take the other to the holding area until future notice."
"Yes sir."
"Um, sir? He's fucked up bad. If you're gonna interrogate him, you better do it quick or get him to medical, yo," Reno said, holding up a bloody palm for him to see.
Tseng's eyes narrowed, and for a brief moment he wondered if the younger man wasn't part of the plan too, before quickly dismissing the idea. Reno, while troublesome, had never given anyone cause to doubt his loyalty, and the older man really didn't look too great, to be honest.
"Restrain him," he ordered blandly.
That seemed to finally provoke a response from the otherwise silent redhead. He rolled his eyes and replied with a mocking tone, "Yeah, cause I'm totally gonna go all ninja on your asses, yo."
Tseng knew without even looking that several of his Turks had bristled at the retort, and he carefully moved to diffuse the situation before anyone got trigger happy. As much fun as it might be to work off a little Reno steam on an unknown lookalike, he did actually need to interrogate him, if for nothing more than to make sure his story matched the other captured man's.
"In your condition, you should be honored it was even considered," Tseng replied wryly, gauging the new redhead's reaction. He looked away, though Tseng was still able to catch a soft "Fuck you." Hmm, appeared it was a bit of a sore spot for the newcomer.
Young Reno tried to hide his smirk; it wasn't everyday that someone had the balls to mouth off to the Vice Director of the Turks. He moved to restrain the other as ordered, but ended up jumping as suddenly loud beeps started coming from his jacket. Anyone who might have lowered their guns suddenly raised them again.
"Shit, he's got a bomb on him or something," Tseng heard Adrian whisper behind him.
"Orders, sir?" Rafe asked at the same time the stranger raised his unslung arm in a surrendering gesture.
"It's just my phone, yo!" he quickly snapped out before anyone took it upon themselves to remove the threat.
Tseng frowned slightly as the beeping continued, "Silence," he said softly and everyone in the room snapped their mouths shut.
Beep-beep-beep beeeeeep beep beep beep-beep-beep...He knew that ring tone. He took in the other's clothing, having initially brushed it off the dark blue suit as a coincidence. Was he playing the part of some long lost operative? His eyes moved from one redhead to the other. Reno's older brother? Maybe an escaped clone, experimented on by Hojo?
He decided not to dwell on how likely that last idea sounded.
Catching on, Reno blurted out, "Hey, isn't that the call to regroup, yo?" Tseng made a mental note to remind Reno of the Code of Silence.
"Yeah, you're gonna hafta answer that for me, yo," the new redhead mumbled before he abruptly fainted. Reno quickly caught the taller man, though Tseng guessed it to be more out of instinct than actual concern for the other. He gave Tseng a "Chocobo in the headlights" look and the Wutainese man was once again reminded of just how young his new Turk was.
"Get him to medical quickly. But first, take out his phone."
Reno nodded and pulled out the other's mobile before gently handing the other over to two of his fellow Turks. Tseng found it rather odd that he knew exactly where the other kept it, but he tried to refrain from condemning thoughts. Before anyone could tell him otherwise, Reno took it upon himself to flip the device open and answer. Tseng resisted the urge to bang his head into something. This was why no one wanted to partner with the rash rookie.
With blue eyes tracking the wounded man's journey until he reached the door, Reno frowned into the phone. "Uh...I was busy, yo."
"I just was, mind your own fucking business!" He snapped back at the unknown caller. Tseng swore he was going to give Reno to Dean for a week if he caused the other to hang up before they could get any information.
Luckily, if the previous redhead's attitude was anything to go by, the individual seemed used to the crass slum speech and didn't hang up immediately. He gave Reno an expectant look and the other flushed slightly and started fiddling with the thing as he walked over to his superiors.
"Shit, how the hell do you put this thing on speaker, yo?" he mumbled to himself, though clearly not low enough as the other responded. Now close enough for them to gather around and listen, if they strained their ears, they heard the other's exasperation.
"Are you with Rude? I swear to the Planet, Reno, if you've been ignoring me in favor of screwing around, I'm going to make sure there's not enough of you for Tseng to find," a young-sounding woman snapped with suddenly clarity as the redhead found the speaker option.
Reno looked up into his boss's eyes at the name-dropping. He looked a little startled and Tseng imagined the oddity of their predicament was just now hitting home for the redhead.
"Reno, are you there?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Jeez, leave me be, yo! I'm trying to...uh...take in the situation, yo!" Reno finished lamely after snapping out of his daze.
There was silence for a moment and Tseng feared the other had found something wrong with "Reno" before she replied carefully, "Maybe I should speak to Rude, if you're not thinking clearly. I mean, not to say that you can't or anything, but with the medication you're on..." The other trailed off uncomfortably and Tseng recalled the other's distaste for his current physical condition. A touchy subject for sure.
"I'm fucking fine, yo! 'Sides, I never said Rude was here, that was you puttin' words in my mouth. I just put it on speaker so that I wouldn't hafta hold it up to my ear," Reno lied flawlessly and Tseng had to admit he was a little pleased with his subordinate.
Apparently, now that the shock was wearing off, the redhead was getting into his element. They hadn't picked the other for his looks, after all. His thoughts paused for a moment as he took in all of the very good-looking people crowding around the device. Well, good looks hadn't been the only factor.
"Damn, so you're alone too? Have you gotten any contact from anyone?"
"Just you so far. Uh, where are you, by the way?"
"Just outside of ShinRa High. It sounds crazy, but I swear I arrived next to a younger version of myself." The girl paused as if waiting for an answer. When Reno didn't immediately provide her with one, she continued, "Of course, I could have been mistaken, since I didn't really get a good look before I bolted out of there. " She paused again and Reno quirked his eyebrow at his superior. Tseng frowned in response, hoping it wasn't some sort of test that Reno was failing.
The girl sighed into the phone. "Reno, what the hell did that machine do?"
"Um...well...if you don't already know, then why should I tell ya? Weren't you paying attention the first time 'round, yo?" he replied and Tseng could tell he was trying to sound cocky like usual.
The girl seemed to accept his bluff as there was another soft sigh before she responded in a resigned voice, "I understand, sir." Several eyebrows shot up at the honorfic, with Reno's being one of the highest. "What about you? Do you need me to come and get you?"
Reno, still looking giddy from being shown some respect, glanced over to Tseng. The Wutainese man nodded, "Yeah, I don't wanna admit it, but I might need some help, yo. I showed up out of nowhere in the ShinRa building next ta a...nother redhead. I knocked him out good but I don't know if I can get out without being caught."
The woman cursed before responding, "What about Rude? Where is he?"
Everyone in the room noticed how she didn't comment on the "redhead." If they were playing the part of time traveling Turks, then she at least had the Code down to a T. Then again, he mused, if the other was a time traveling Reno, then he shouldn't have it down to anything.
Reno frowned, "How the hell should I know? I just said you're the first to contact me, yo."
There was a brief moment of silence before the woman replied confusedly, "Well, I figured even if he wasn't your partner yet, you know his pas...Well, you'd just know something, right?...Are you feeling ok?"
Reno paled slightly but he tried to recover himself quickly, "You know Turks don't share stuff like that, yo."
"That's not true for everyone. After all, I thought you were a very special super Turk? Don't you know everyone's secrets?" the other joked. Or, at least, she seemed to joke. A room full of Turks easily recognized the Turk code sentences, used since before Valentine's time.
"Very special super Turk"... Has someone deemed you worthy of capturing?
"Don't you know everyone's secrets?"... Are they listening now?
Tseng frowned as Reno gave him an uncertain look. His skepticism was starting to fail him. As far as he knew, no one had ever broken the Turk Hostage Code. Was it really possible that they were time travelers? His mind briefly flickered over all of the experiments ShinRa had funded over the years and he found that he wouldn't be surprised if that was the truth.
Still, they had to make certain it wasn't some elaborate plan made by someone on the inside. He could just imagine the President blindly following the words of a complete stranger if given the assurance that doing so would cement his future on a brighter path. Well, either way, it wouldn't hurt to play along, right?
Hoping he wasn't making the wrong decision, he held out his hand for the phone.
"Reno? Is something wrong?"
"I'm afraid your Reno has been rushed to the emergency room due to previous injuries. Another of your companions, has been taken into custody when he appeared in the Turk physical area. Unless you would enjoy being hunted down, I suggest you give yourself up," he gave out the facts without any shown emotion.
The other gasped. "We really did time travel! Um, I mean...Is this past Tseng, sir?"
The Wutainese man noted the honorfic with some minor pleasure. If the woman thought him a superior, it would make things infinitely easier and they just might be able to get to the bottom of things without killing possible future Turks. (Though he still refused to admit just yet that that's what they were.)
"It is. And you are?"
"Elena, sir," she answered with no hesitation. It lead credence to their story; Turks were trained to answer and obey without thought.
"Well then, Elena, do you agree to give yourself up?" Tseng asked politely, not that it really mattered. They would get her anyway.
"I don't know if I should. In fact, maybe you should let Reno and Rude go," she answered hesitantly. Adrian snorted and Tseng unconsciously raised his eyebrow even though she couldn't see it.
"Oh, should we?" he mocked lightly.
"It's not like that!" He could practically hear the blush in her voice, "I mean, if we are in the past, what if we end up changing things? Maybe we should all pretend this never happened, sir."
Tseng had to admit, she had a point. However... "I believe the damage is already done. Two of your friends transported themselves into the middle of ShinRa Headquarters and just in this short time we now know the names of two future Turks and the fact that Reno is still such after such a long time. That knowledge alone could change things and that would then change other things and it would be an endless chain reaction."
The girl sighed, "I suppose you're right, sir. I'm on Kalm Street, near the icecream shop. I'll wait here for someone to pick me up."
"Thank you for cooperating," he replied before hanging up the phone. He handed it to Rosalind, and she nodded before taking off to find the other woman.
His phone started vibrating and he almost wished it was Scarlet calling to tell him he was late just so he could throw it in her face that some of them actually had important work to do. Sadly, it was just another one of his Turks.
"Tseng here," he said as he flipped it open.
"Sir, we've just gotten word that an unknown man appeared in the SOLDIER cadet training area just recently before escaping. They've already sent one of their own after him, and otherwise appear to be dealing with the situation. I felt it prudent to give you notice anyway, sir."
"We have a similar problem. Keep watch over their efforts and report back to me if there appears to be any changes."
"Yes sir."
Now Tseng really felt like banging his head against something. It was just is luck that Veld left and now he was the one that would have to conduct the most unusual investigation in ShinRa history while trying to overrule the Turk/SOLDIER rivalry. And, to top it all off, he hadn't even gotten his latte.
He glanced towards Reno, one of the few Turks left in the room and a small smirk came to his lips.
"Reno?" The young man glanced up.
"Yessir?"
"I have a very important mission for you." Tseng had to admit, even his cold heart almost felt bad at the way the other's eyes lit up in anticipation. Almost.
He really wanted that fucking latte.
AN: There are definitely a few tweaks to the time line in this fic, but hopefully nothing too reprehensible. I also used Before Crisis Turk names, as given by Gunshot Romance (not their canon names), though I know nothing about them beyond that.
Well, whatcha think? I've only seen one other fic in which there's actually separate people for past & future (The Fifth Act by Sinnatious – go read it, it's awesome) & so I'd like some feedback on that, at least. Also, instead of having people slowly follow clues until they realize they are time travelers, I've (obviously) decided to go backwards & now the travelers have to prove themselves. (Since I don't think that's really something people could just accept right away, even with so many similarities.)
Any comments or criticisms are welcome! Let me know if anything seems off! Also, what pairing(s) would you guys like to see?
Posted Aug 20, 2010.