Chapter 3: Truths Revealed
Reno and Rude climbed back into the helicopter. The mission didn't go as smoothly as planned, but they were still alive and they had killed the son of a bitch. As Reno got the helicopter started, he looked at his partner. " Whew... hehe, man, do all of the missions turn out like this, yo, or does anyone ever cut any slack?" Rude looked back at him, but did't say a word. Both of them were pretty bruised up and stressed out. " Hmm... guess not, yo..."
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At the Clinic unit of Shin- Ra, both men were being checked over by nurses. Suddenly, a young lady popped her head out from behind the curtain. " Rude? Hey! I know I'm not supposed to be visiting you on duty, but someone told me you had a tough time... so, I just decided to drop in and see how you were doing." Rude looked at her and let out an exasperated sigh " Chelsea..." " Woah! Hey, yo, this your sister?" Reno butted in. "No," Rude stated, surprised that Reno was still trying to communicate with him, " She's my-" he started, but was cut off " I'm his girlfriend," Chelsea suddenly noticed the Turks uniform and covered her mouth " But.... uhh... You can't tell anyone" she said " because uhh...." She was looking for an excuse when Reno cut her off " Because you're a member of AVALANCHE... kind of obvious." Rude and Chelsea both looked at Reno, absolutely shocked that he figured it out without having to be told. " H-h-h- how the hell..." Rude started. " Really simple, yo. Only a member of AVALANCHE would be that nervous about someone finding out that she's dating somebody from the Turks.... Also..." he stated, pointing at her arm " She's got a red ribbon on her arm; a common symbol of their associates, yo." Chelsea was about to say something when she heard footsteps. "It's Tseng and Rufus" she said " I better get going." She planted a small kiss on Rudes' cheek and ran off.
Tseng and Rufus arrived at Reno and Rudes' area and Tseng poked his head in. " If I might ask, who was that lady who just left here?" " Umm.... th-th-that was umm..." Rude stammered " That was my mom,yo." Reno took over for him. " She just stopped by to make sure I was doing alright." The supervisor looked him over questioningly " She seemed to be in a hurry... is everything okay?" " Uhh... yeah, she just remebered that she needed to pick up my dad from work and- " he paused to look at his watch " Good Lord, he should be getting off any minute, yo." Tseng nodded in understanding. Rude however, after hearing Reno speak of his father, just looked at him, confused. " So, like, where's the boss, yo?" " He's checking with the nurse to see how long you two are going to have to stay here" Tseng answered. " Correction, Tseng, I'm not now..." Rufus said as he walked past the barrier seperating him and his Turks. " So, what's the verdict, yo?" Rufus sighed softly and shook his head. It was going to take a while for him to get used to having to hear "yo" every two sentences. " She said that you both got pretty banged up, but you can be released any time.... nothing fatal." " Alright!" Reno said, laughing "now, let's go get somethin' to eat! I'm hungry, yo!"
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The four of them sat down at the same table at Toroja's, one of the many resteraunts in Midgar. A bubbely blonde- headed girl walked up to them. Recognizing one of them she sqealed with delight " Oh my God! Reno, it's been, like, forever!" Reno laughed " Yep, it sure has, yo. Oh, hey! How's Kayla been doing?" "She's been doing, like, TONS better, thanks... OH," she exclaimed as she slapped her forehead " I'm, like, so sorry.... Can I take your order, please?" After the other three got over their initial shock, they placed their orders and she was off. " Excuse me," said Reno, " I'll be back in a minute yo." As he got up to leave, Rude followed. "Umm... excuse me as well."
Outside the front doors of the building, Reno had just gotten off of the phone with his mother. As he hung up, Rude walked up beside him. "Oh, hey, yo?" Reno said, surprised "Uhh... Whatcha need, yo?" Before Rude could answer him, Reno stated " Hey, I noticed at the clinic when I was covering for you from Tseng.... you kinda looked at me weird when I said my mom had to go pick up my dad.... How's come, yo?" "Well," The taller one started, "It's just that.... well..." "'Well...' What?" "It's Just that..." "Uh-huh?" Reno kept prevoking Rude until he finally blurted out " I read on your citizens profile that your dad had gone to prison for...." He paused, not able to finish the sentence. Reno looked at his partners' face and then to the ground. He knew what Rude was talking about. " You... read my files?" "Rufus ordered me to." "But-" he said, looking back up at Rude and sighing. "I'm.... sorry." "Sorry?" Reno started, sounding upset "Sorry for what? That my father's a pedophile to his own son or sorry that you were ordered to read those files?" Rude looked at him and saw tears welling up in his eyes. He sighed "Both..." "Well, then why?! Why did you feel the need to say anything, yo?" "Well, I started getting confused when you said that your mother was going to pick up.... him.... and I-" "You what?" Reno asked as he finally began to break "Did you have to get things clarified by me? You READ my profile; it should have told you that my parents have been divorced since I was five! And that I have a restraining order against him!" At these words, Reno pushed Rude away from him. " Reno... After reading that your father had... molested you... I- I couldn't bring myself to read anything else on there....I-" he cut himself off as Reno came back up to him and began sobbing into his chest.
"It took a year... a whole year...before my mom finally grasped what had happened.... My older brother finally told mom what was going on..." Reno choked through his sobs. "She started working second... so, we never got to see her... After a couple weeks... dad started.... and... I-i was so scared that he'd hurt me if I told mom.... Finally.... Tony caught him... when mom got home.... he told her... she didn't.... she didn't believe him at first..." Rude stood dumbfounded, holding his partner as he continued his story. "Then... I got sick... sh-she took me to the doctors... and... that's when they told her.... she divorced him and... he tried to come after me.... so mom... issued a restraining order... I-i haven't seen him since.... After that, though... Tony walked out on us..." After he finished, he stopped crying and looked up at Rude. The taller Turk stood speachless for a moment, but finally started "Reno... I'm not going to... pretend... like I know what you're going through.... I don't.... but, I do know one thing... I won't... let you get hurt like that.... ever... not as long as I live." Rude embraced his new found friend as he began shaking again. "Thank you..."
"Thank you so much."
(A/N: WOW!!! Sorry it took me so long to get this up.... kinda lost interest for a while, there... but, it's up now, and thank you all for your kindness and support.... I'm working on a new fic now.... It's a semi Reno/Elena thingy-ma-bobber.... sort of a drabble... don't get the wrong impression, though, I'm a Reno/Tifa fan.... XD)