"Sir, there is no way he's going to willingly allow me or anyone else to train him." Tseng was in Veld's office and was trying to remove whatever substance Reno had thrown at him during lunch. He threw down his handkerchief in frustration and resigned himself to the fact that the shirt was ruined.

"I thought you said you could handle him?" Veld raised an eyebrow in amusement as he watched his second in command struggled with the stain, "By the way, what the hell is on your shirt?"

"I've got no idea." Tseng frowned at the stain. "I thought I could handle him but he's getting more difficult everyday. Everyone else that started out this way at least showed some signs of strain with the amount of work I put them through but with Reno I could make him run miles and he would just come back and ask 'what's next?'" Tseng scowled as he remembered the time he had spent watching Reno run around the track. The red-head had almost dropped on the floor when he was finally allowed to stop and Tseng had thought he had won, but then Reno had simply asked, 'What's next?". Needless to say, it infuriated him.

"How is Rude doing?" Veld chuckled knowing that Tseng only used that as an example because he had tried it already.

"He's cooperative enough that I can have one of the other Turks train him and not think twice about it. Reno on the other hand..." Tseng trailed off.

"That bad eh?" Veld frowned.

"That bad." Tseng sighed.

"He'll come around." Veld shrugged.

"No he won't. He's stubborn as hell which will work to our advantage later but only if we can get him to stop being stubborn at us." Tseng frowned as he spoke.

"If I remember correctly Tseng, you weren't exactly easy to train either." Veld chuckled.

"If Reno ever becomes as professional as me I'll eat my tie." Tseng laughed dryly. "The way things are looking right now he's going to get himself killed his first patrol."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Veld shrugged as he spoke.

"Give me some idea of what I should do to get through to him." Tseng ran a hand over his face as he tried to soothe his fraying nerves.

"What did we have to do to get him to work for us in the first place Tseng?" Veld folded his hands on the desk in front of him.

Tseng grinned, "Give him incentive?"

"Give him incentive." Veld grinned back.

Rude laughed as he knocked Reno to the floor. "You were supposed to block that Reno."

Reno growled as he pushed himself off the floor. His hands were still not healed and the half formed scabs started to break open again as he got up. He hadn't gone a day without bleeding on something since he had had his fight with the rope. "I'm trying yo!"

Rude laughed. They had spent the past two weeks trying to best each other in everything and so far Rude was winning. Reno spent so much of his energy trying to get Tseng upset that he didn't have a lot left for their sparring matches.

"You loosing again Reno?" Matt guffawed as Reno glared at him.

"Not your business." Reno growled as he slipped out of the ring.

"It is my business. If you can't defend yourself here then you're going to be a sitting duck in the field." Matt's voice suddenly took on a serious tone and Reno forced his tired brain to absorb what he was saying.

"It's my first week alright? Give me some time." Reno glowered as he nursed his bleeding hands.

"You have time to improve but you need to be serious about this Reno." Matt crossed his arms and Reno huffed.

"I am bein' serious yo!" Reno's face turned sour and Rude sighed.

Brandon walked in, "If you were serious about being a Turk you wouldn't be wasting your energy trying to upset Tseng."

"He's got a point Reno." Rude said as he slipped out of the ring to stand next to his friend.

"I know he's got a point but the bastard is the one making me work here. I never said I wanted this, I'm just making the best out of a bad situation and if I can piss him off I'll be happier about it." Reno crossed his arms in front of his chest and refused to make eye contact with anyone.

"That attitude will get you killed." Brandon scowled and straightened his glasses.

"Listen, do you really think any of us are here because this was our first choice Reno? I wanted to be a Soldier but my body completely rejected the mako so they sent me here. I wasn't happy when I started out and I got myself in trouble doing the same stuff you are and I got myself shot because of it." Matt lifted his shirt to show the scar on his stomach. "I'm trying to keep you from making the same mistakes. It took all of us a while to get used to the idea of working here but the sooner you get comfortable with the inevitable the sooner you can start improving." Matt smiled kindly at Reno as he talked, "You've both got potential but Rude seems to be the only one giving his all to try and reach his. You need to get your ass in gear and work for it."

Reno glared at Matt before walking towards the shower room without a word.

"Probably not your best choice of words." Brandon sighed as he walked away.

Matt sighed, "I was trying to be encouraging, not demeaning."

"You failed." Rude grunted and left to talk to Reno. He entered the shower room to see Reno with his head in Matt's locker. "Whatever you're taking put it back."

"I'm not taking anything out I'm putting stuff in." Reno smirked as he shut the locker with a bang.

"Do I want to know?" Rude eyed the locker as if it could explode at any moment.

"Probably not. It was something I was saving for Tseng but now Matt gets to have it. If I don't tell you any details you won't have to lie for me." Reno winked cheekily as he opened his own locker and got ready to shower.

"How did you get into his locker anyways?" Rude asked, still eyeing the locker warily.

"Picked the lock, how else?" Reno raised an eyebrow.

"When did you learn to pick a lock?" Rude asked as he opened his own locker.

Reno laughed, "I've known how to pick a lock since I was just a little terror to humanity. I never had a key to the loft so I had to learn to pick the lock early on. What, did you think I learned by robbing people or something?"

"I had my suspicions." Rude grunted as he pulled out his clothes and headed for the shower.

Reno's mouth dropped into a comical 'O' shape, "You thought I stole stuff!"

"I've thought worse about you." Rude chuckled as he entered the showers.

"Worse! How much worse!?" Reno followed Rude in an agitated fashion.

"..." Rude didn't respond, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Yo! How much worse!?" When he didn't get an answer Reno growled, "Yo I can't have you thinking I was worse than a thief yo!"

"I'm gonna let you ponder that for awhile. It'll give you something to do." Rude chuckled as he turned on the shower.

Reno scowled and stepped into his own stall to shower. "Jerkface!"

"Mature." Rude chuckled.

They stayed silent for a while as they showered. When they heard a surprised yell from the locker room Rude chuckled. "If he asks, I don't know you."

"If I expected anything else from you I wouldn't have done it." Reno grinned as he finished his shower early and tried to control his laughter as Matt ran into the room coated in white powder.

"What the hell is this stuff Reno!?" Matt yelled as he took three large steps in Reno's direction, clouds of dust rolling off him with each step.

"Chill yo it's just flour. It'll come right off." Reno grinned happily as he backed away from the angry man.

"Where the hell did you get flour?" Matt stopped his advance towards Reno, a puzzled look on his face as the flour dust settled around his feet.

"You gonna cut off my supply if I tell you?" Reno grinned as he finished dressing.

"Of course. Why the hell you even had that much flour and a way to throw it concerns me." Matt started brushing the flour off of his body as he glared at Reno.

"I was saving that little prank for Tseng but since everyone frowns on me messing with him I figured I'd pick a new target." Reno grinned, an evil look in his eye.

Matt face-palmed, "Why me?"

Reno shrugged, "You've got a better sense of humor than Brandon."

Matt sighed and went back to the locker room without another word, flour clouding around him as he went. "I think you win Reno." Rude chuckled as he stepped out of the shower.

"I didn't know we were doing anything that required a win." Reno shrugged with a smile as he stuffed his hands in his pants pockets and walked out.

Rude shook his head and got dressed with a smile. He knew Reno delighted in tormenting people and that he shouldn't encourage it, but it was so damned entertaining that he couldn't resist.

Reno swaggered out of the gym in a tired fashion. He winked at Nasira as he passed and got an eye roll and a chuckle in return. Had his hands not been in pain he would have cracked his knuckles to watch Ellie's face contort at the sound. He was almost out of the gym when Tseng caught him. "Reno, we need to talk."

Reno sighed, his shoulders sagging and his prank induced good mood gone, "Yeah boss?"

Tseng opened his mouth to speak and then took in Reno's appearance. "Where's your tie?"

"Don't like nooses. Didn't I fuck up your shirt earlier?" Reno raised his eyebrow and cocked his head to one side as he stared at Tseng's shirt.

"I changed." Tseng frowned.

"How many spares have you got?" Reno asked with a wicked grin.

Tseng shook his head with an exasperated sigh, "I've got a proposition for you."

Reno raised an eyebrow, "What kind of proposition are we talking about?"

Tseng grinned internally but kept his face stoic. "I want you to show up and follow orders everyday, not spend all your time and energy finding new ways to mess with me, and wear your uniform properly in my presence."

"What's in it for me?" Reno crossed his arms in front of his chest. Tseng better have a damned good offer if he was going to wear a tie.

"Helicopter lessons every Saturday. This means you'll have to skip out on the Friday night drinking I know you've been looking forward too. Can't have you flying hungover." Tseng knew by the look on Reno's face that he was considering the offer, "Before you make up your mind, I suggest you actually get to ride in a helicopter first to see if you even like flying."

Reno tried to hide the eagerness in his voice when he answered, "Sounds like a good idea. It had better be an orgasmic experience if I'm going to wear one of your damned ties." He sneered the last word with a grimace.

Tseng let himself smile before he led the way to the helicopter pad with Reno in tow. If he played his cards right he might have a few weeks of relative peace. He would milk Reno's desire to fly for all it was worth.

Reno tried not to gape at the size of the craft in front of him but he couldn't help it. He had only ever seen helicopters on TV or as tiny pinpricks in the sky. He had never quite grasped the fact that they would be huge but now that he had one in front of him he couldn't help but wonder how it flew.

He climbed into the cockpit behind Tseng and gave the controls that filled the area a puzzled stare as Tseng buckled himself in. "Reno, buckle up."

"Sure thing." Reno was quieter than normal and Tseng grinned. Reno picked up the straps and slipped them over his shoulders before he stared the buckle down as if he would figure out how to work them if he looked hard enough. Tseng reached over and buckled Reno in as he tried not to laugh.

"I'm guessing you've never flown before?" Tseng grinned as he began flipping switches.

"Fuck Tseng I'd never even ridden in a car before you showed up. What the hell gives you the idea that I could have ever flown?" Reno rolled his eyes as he reached towards the control panel curiously.

Tseng smacked his hand and he withdrew it quickly. "Don't touch anything."

"Why not?" Reno asked as he rubbed the back of his hand.

"Because if you touch the wrong thing you could send us crashing down." Tseng replied as he continued flipping switches. Reno quickly placed his hands in his lap with a frightened look. Tseng chuckled to himself as he started the engine.

Reno had his face plastered to the window as the helicopter took off and kept it there as they flew over Midgar. He let his jaw drop as he saw the city below him.

"Everything looks better from above Reno." Tseng said as he heard Reno's awe-filled exclamations.

"Really?" Reno pulled his face away from the window to look at Tseng.

"Really." Tseng answered.

Reno turned his attention back to the window and the gleaming city below. "It looks so different."

"That's because you can't see the angry hurting face of everyone who passes. You can't see the filth that litters the streets. You can't see the graffiti. From this angle it looks like a clean and splendid work of art." Tseng glowered as he spoke.

"You got that right!" Reno grinned as he pulled his face from the window to gaze at the clouds in front of them.

"So, what's your answer to my offer?" Tseng asked as he directed the chopper.

Reno chewed his lip, "I dunno yo, is the tie negotiable?"

"No." Tseng laughed in spite of himself.

"Darn." Reno sighed heavily, "What time do you want me here Saturday?"

"Eight o'clock sharp." Tseng grinned as he steered the helicopter back down towards Midgar.