Summary: When Reno is off duty their is nothing more he like doing better than going out and having fun, but recently he's noticed something strange, someone's watching him, following him, someone who envies him. They don't realise though that Reno isn't exactly as carefree and happy as he appears and in the end it may be that they end up helping him instead of the other way round (confusing I Know but it will make sense eventually.)
Disclaimers: I do not own FFVII or any of the characters in this story.
Warning: In this chapter there is some violence, rather bad language and people losing it ever so slightly.
This is the first fan fiction I have posted for a long long time and I have no proof reader so I will say sorry now for any mistakes. The characters personalities etc my seem a bit off, I have just based them around how I see them after playing the game and watching the movie etc. I will try to update as much as possible, it just depends on how many university projects I have on the go.
Setting: A couple of years after Advent children
Yet again apologize for how long this story has taken me to update, I'm blaming it this time on limited internet access, moving house and also super mega writers block hehe. The good news is though I'm already working on the next two chapters. Wahoo
Yet again thank you to the people that have reviewed and to anyone out there that has took time to read this story.
Anyway on with the show…..
Chapter 3- Spiral
The Job description of a Turk was wide and varied, and of course being an organisation controlled by Shinra meant they dealt with some rather questionable affairs using some very questionable methods.
It took a certain type of person to become a Turk, it certainly wasn't a path for the faint hearted to follow.
Reno was a fine example of a Turk. He was quick to think and quick to act, self confident and charming, cunning and intelligent, and (even if he did say so himself) rather good looking. Of course all these attributes were important to a certain extent but what really mattered was his cold, ruthless, almost sadistic streak. Never questioning how shocking or sinful the task at hand was and always sticking the mission even if it did lead to brutality and blood being spilt.
An organised , tight-knit, skilled force. They are what lurk in the shadows of Shinra, never faltering when it came to missions and never questioning what the higher powers of Shinra asked of them.
Well that was the theory at least…
Since Shinra was in the stages of trying to rebuild at the present time Reno seemed to find himself increasingly inside a stuffy office doing paperwork, or rather avoiding doing paperwork.
This change in pace had in turn changed some members of the Turks in small ways. Tseng was increasingly absent, dealing with Rufus on a more personal level and was only seen by the others when an order could not be given over the phone.
Elena therefore seemed to have taken it upon herself to unofficially take up the position of leadership and generally seemed to entertain herself by tracking down Reno when he was more than five seconds late for duty.
Rude had not actually changed all that much and still retained his aura of extreme coolness.
Personally Reno did not overly welcome the change, it was a far cry from the days when he never seemed to stop. Whether it was acting as a bodyguard to Rufus, tracking down some lowlife or going up against a certain blond, spiky haired man and his friends. Back in those days he had felt rather contempt.
He sometimes still did get called upon to carry out duties like this, but more and more he found himself confined within the four walls of the small depressing office.
This change he decided was the cause of his current mood. While for the majority of the time he was still the happy, smug, sarcastic Reno that most people recognised, he increasingly found himself lost deep in thought or at the bottom of a bottle of some very potent alcoholic beverage. He did not waste time mulling over his dark thoughts or strange behaviour though because he never believed that whatever was going of in the back of his mind would ever effect his life in the slightest. So as everyday passed by he became more consumed and slowly and surely he began to fall apart.
On this certain sunny afternoon he was feeling rather more pensive than usual, even the memories of the fun he'd had winding up a certain ex-soldier this morning were having little effect on lifting his mood.
"Arghhhhh…" The red head dramatically slumped forward in his chair, earning him a curious look from Rude who was yet again reclined on the sofa on the other side of the office.
Sensing the confused gaze he was receiving from his partner Reno decided to elaborate. "I'm hungover, I'm bored…" he paused for a moment to collect to his thoughts before leaping up almost in victory "…And I need a drink!" As soon as he proclaimed this fact though a rather loud gurgle filled the room as Reno's body protested and brought him back to reality.
"Or maybe not." He whimpered as he cowered back in his chair clutching where he thought his poor mistreated liver was located.
Rude was smirking rather amused by the others antics when Elena came bursting into the office. Reno visible winced when the blonde walked in, it was the first time they'd had any contact since the phone call that morning and he was pretty sure he was about to get screamed at or battered round the head.
"Right we have work to do!" She chucked a folder at each of them.
"Let me guess, more paperwork? I hope it is because I just love paperwork." Reno joked as he started to leaf through the file at the same time he breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed he was off the hook. His joy was short lived though as Elena walked past and hit him on the head with her own file.
"This is no time for jokes." She grumbled as she sat down behind her desk and glared at the other two, suddenly looking stern and much older than her young years. "This job is serious, there can be no room for mistakes."
Reno rubbed his head, a frown now placed on his face. "Since when were you the boss?" He spat out.
Elena now focused her glare solely on the red head. "Since you two became to lazy to care." Question answered she got back to the task at hand, ignoring the two gob-smacked looks she was receiving from Reno and Rude.
"Are Target is a small time criminal- drug dealing, prostitution etc. Usually we would not be bothered by such petty crooks, but as it happens he has some quite nasty information that could put Shinra's plans to rebuild and become a great once again in Jeopardy. We have tried being civil with him in the past but he's not buying it so we have no choice but to step it up a level." She finished her run down and focused her attention yet again on the other two present.
"Meaning…" Rude started but Reno jumped in.
"…we get rid of him, just like good old days" A grim smile appeared on the red heads face but his bright green eyes still sparkled.
"Exactly" Elena answered glancing at her watch. "We haven't got long so get yourself prepared!"
"Wait a minute." Rude spoke up looking questionably at his file. "It says here he's a family man, got a wife and a couple of kids. There not going to get in the way are they?"
"No we've got that cleared. Where we are going to have our 'meeting' with him is at his 'place of work' so to speak. He's unlikely to tell any of his family about the place let alone give them the grand tour." Elena explained while checking over her weapons. "Right anymore questions? Good lets get this show on the road!"
"Ah just what my day needed…" Reno smirked "…some excitement." He followed Elena out of the door giving Rude a friendly pat on the back as he passed, but he missed the concerned look on his partners face.
Rude had a bad feeling about this job, a very bad feeling.
888
Reno brought the unremarkable black car to a stop on the side of the dark quiet road outside a rather shabby, abandon looking factory. He turned to Elena who sat in the passenger seat and gave her a quizzical look "Are you sure this is the right place? Its just I thought a guy who was such a worry to Shinra would have a slightly grander base of operations." At that moment as if to prove his point a door slammed from somewhere within the walls of factory and seemed to make the whole building shake as a result.
"This is defiantly the place." She hissed out while looking down with annoyance at the gun in her hands. "I was sure I checked this was in working order before we left but its totally fuc.." Realising that Elena was about to burst into a full blown rant and possibly give away their presence Reno reached over and took the wrecked firearm from her grasp and gave it the once over himself. "Hm your right this wouldn't blow a hole in a teddy bear let alone a greasy overweight sleazy middle aged drug dealer."
(AN:- I have not got a clue what can go wrong with a gun, as I have no clue about guns at all. I would research it but I have no internet access to do so- so I'm sorry that part all sounded a bit stupid and vague but basic point- Elena gun broken, Elena annoyed )
He chuckled and turned to face the angry red faced blonde beside him
"Hey chill out. This job should go without a hitch anyway. The guy will probably piss his pants and have a heart attack as soon as we walk in." The red head laughed again and passed the useless weapon back to Elena. "Just leave the nasty grisly part to me and watch your back." Before Elena could moan about the whole situation going wrong or predict some other disaster Reno turned to face Rude who sat in the back.
"You ready partner?" He smirked at the bald man hoping he would be in a better state of mind than Elena, but then again this was almost a certainty since Rude seemed to ooze calm and collected from his very pores.
"Always." Rude gave a small nod and went to get out of the car.
"Good just what I like to hear." Now with a more serious look on his face but still a sparkle in his eyes Reno followed Rude's example and stepped out onto the roadside beside him. " Lets get to work."
888
Reno and Elena were in pursuit of their target. It seemed the fat middle aged crook had not been to pleased to see them and after a rather heated conversation he had made a run for it. At the moment he appeared to be leading them up to the highest point of the building since they were currently chasing the guy up flights of stairs which made it near enough impossible for Reno to get a decent shot in. At the moment though the red head was too shocked to even take aim. He and Elena who followed close behind were having trouble keeping up with him.
God He thought to himself in disbelieve Who thought a guy that size could move so fast. At that moment as if on cue the man in question got his footing wrong and went tumbling over. As he fell his leg twisted at awkward angle and he hit his chin on one of the steps ahead making his head snap back.
Reno somehow managed to wince and smirk at the same time. That looked a bit too painful he thought but soon he was left gaping in shock as the guy got up almost immediately and carried on with his escape attempt, albeit a bit slower and with a limp.
"This guys not real, has he got in built shock absorbers or something?" He muttered in annoyance but raced on knowing they'd have him cornered soon enough.
Reno smiled as he finally caught up with the over weight crook. He had been right, they had the guy trapped. Reno quickly scanned the room not wanting to take his eyes off the man in front of him for long. The room was small and windowless and was only lit dimly by a flickering ceiling light.
"Oh well no windows to chuck yourself out of tubby, what a shame" Reno barked out with a cruel laugh as he took a step closer to the now shaking man.
The red head knew he could look damn menacing at times and he was sure in the strange lighting that at this particular moment he looked threatening enough to give even the toughest gangster nightmares.
The large man soon found he could back up no further and settled instead for cowering on the cold floor.
"Don't look so scared, I promise I'll make it quick." Reno teased as he felt his heart begin to race. "I can't say that it'll be painless though." He bent down so he was on his victims level and whispered menacingly into his ear. " Like I told you before you decided you wanted to play tag- my boss thinks you know too much and to be fair we were very nice to you before. It didn't have to come to this we could have all been friends but no you had to go and ruin it all, didn't you." He sighed in mock disappointment and straightened back up, taking a few strides back from the detestable man who was now slumped against the wall. The guy was already beat up quite badly from the fall and was unlikely to be a threat, but Reno was sure he was still armed and did not want to risk him pulling a gun on any of them. He had made his point and now he would silence the guy and finish the job quickly and cleanly.
Just as he was about to do just that and end it all he caught sight of something in the corner of his vision
What the Fuck! He screamed in silence as he watched a boy of about ten run straight over to the man who he had just been preparing to shoot. "Don't kill my dad, please don't hurt him, please…" The kid pleaded as his voice cracked and tears ran down his cheeks. Reno tried to figure out where the boy had come from and almost kicked himself when he noticed a huge dust sheet crumpled up on the floor in the same area as where the kid had appeared from. How could he have missed that? Your losing your touch you imbecile. A cold voice taunted inside his head.
The kid must had been at the factory and when they had arrived he'd probably ran away and hidden up here.
Damn it! Reno froze as he saw that the child in front of him seemed to be trying to shield his already wounded father, still begging and pleading.
The red head held his gun up, if the kid was in his way he would just have to deal with it. It wasn't a pleasant solution but he had a job to do and he couldn't let anything or anybody stop him. He took a deep breath and tried to aim.
Damn it! He cursed silently again as he realized his hands were shaking violently. It's simple Reno tried to convince himself Shoot them both, get out of this shit hole, go home have a nice long shower and then go out and get wasted. Still he didn't move, he was pretty sure his whole body shook now as his stomach churned and beads of sweat began to roll down his forehead.
Elena stood in place a little behind him staring in disbelieve and worry. She didn't know what to do, Reno had never froze up ever. He always knew what he had to do and he did it with no questions asked.
She now wished she had her gun, they needed to end this now. She was about to approach Reno but instead stopped before she began. Elena you're the one losing your head. She berated herself, deciding she was over reacting. The red head would snap out of it soon enough, the appearance of the kid had just thrown him. Soon it would all be sorted and she could go back to Rufus and report that there was one less person standing in the way of Shinra's plans. She smiled inwardly and almost laughed hardly believing that she had questioned Reno's abilities for even a second.
While Elena was getting ready in her mind to prepare a report on another job well done Reno state of mind took a step for the worse. All the dark thoughts that had been accumulating within his mind of late all seemed to be unleashed at once and the result of this was far from good "Why?" A voice in Reno's head spoke out. "Why don't you just shoot the bastard… he deserves it after all?"
"I can't" Reno barely whispered as memories came flashing into his mind.
His mother's body lay lifeless on the dirty blood stained carpet, a bullet shot wound through her head. His pale little hands clung onto her shoulders as he tried to shake the only person that has mattered to him back to life.
The younger version of himself had not been able to process why her emerald green eyes no longer sparkled but instead stared blankly upwards, or why her usually soft warm skin was now cold to touch. He could not understand how any human being with a heart and soul could take her away from him.
"I can't." He repeated louder this time and dropped slowly to his knees.
In his mind he was just the same as the monster that had killed his mother. He had always told himself that the people he had killed, tortured or terrorised for Shinra were awful specimens of human beings, but did that give him the right to rid the world of there existence. How many partners had he made widows? How many children had he made orphans?
As these thoughts twisted and grew inside Reno he slowly lost his grip on reality.
He did not hear familiar voice screaming at him to move, he did not see Elena rush towards him as the man in front of him- his target raised a gun and aimed it in his direction.
888
While all the commotion had been happening Rude had been outside standing guard. His attention had been turned to other matters though as he discovered the radio that allowed him to communicate with Reno and Elena was acting up. Usually he would be able to hear the other's voices quite clearly but now all the earpiece seemed to be emitting was an annoying fuzzy static sound. At first he stayed quite calm but occasionally the radio would burst into life again and what he heard in those short moments was not to his liking.
A young boy crying, Elena calling out to Reno. That was enough to tell him something was wrong but what sent cold shivers down his spine was the fact that he had not heard Reno's voice for quite a while. The red head seemed to have been cast into silence suddenly.
Still he stayed put at his post. He had faith in Elena and Reno's abilities, they were both very good at their job and he was not about to go racing up there like an idiot and ruin the whole operation.
Well that was until he heard the gun shot.
He felt his blood run cold, Reno gun had a silencer fitted so it defiantly wasn't him who had fired the shot which only meant one thing, Reno or Elena had been the Target. At that moment the radio crackled back to life and he finally heard Reno's voice, well at least he thought the cracked, quiet voice belonged to the usually bubbly red head.
888
It wasn't until Reno felt a warm splash of blood land on his face and Elena's body collapsed on the floor in front of him that he started to drift back to reality.
He tried to speak out, but his voice was so cracked and strained it was almost unrecognisable. "El-El." He felt his chest constrict and it became harder to breath "What hap-happened. I don't kn.." His voice trailed off, he could not work it out, could not process what had happened, he was even having problems remembering where he was. His body shook and tears slid unnoticed from his eyes. His mothers screams still echoed inside his mind.
"Reno?" Hearing that cracked, pained voice was the final stage that brought him crashing back down to Earth. "Reno, are you okay?" He focussed his empty gaze on Elena, who now lay on the cold, rough ground. He spotted the wound in her stomach and in realisation put a shaking hand up to wipe away the blood that had splattered his face.
"I…" His voice caught in his throat. He could not form any coherent thoughts, could not think of any words of explanation or comfort to speak to the wounded woman, the woman who had just saved his life probably at the cost of her own. He just sat there and stared at the blood pouring from her stomach, briefly he looked up in the direction of the man who had just shot Elena, not that his eyes focused or took in any sight in particular .
"I couldn't …" He croaked and flinched as he heard another gun shot. Slowly his vision came into focus and he saw a man slumped against the wall in front of him with a hole through his head.
The Target. He thought silently to himself, finally remembering where he was, what he was suppose to have done. Then he turned his attention to the weight in his hand, as he looked he saw his gun, the gun that had just fired a shot. Confused he drop it as if it had burnt him, not registering the cries of the distraught child who was now clinging and clawing desperately at his dead fathers body.
He felt his head spin as he tried to comprehend what had gone wrong, but his thoughts were fragmented, his whole head felt like it was about to split in two. The whole feeling in turn made him light headed and sick to his stomach.
The room suddenly seemed more crowded and soon he felt someone grab onto his shoulders and start to drag him away. Already feeling ready to pass out he didn't protest and let all the voices around blend into one constant hum. Only one persons voice stood out from the rest as they uttered "leave no witnesses" and a third gun shot was fired.
He then realised the young boy now lay dead beside his father, Elena lay dying in a pool of her own blood and he could now add two more names to the list of peoples life's that he'd played a part in destroying. What made matters worse this time though, one was an innocent child and the other was his friend.
Wahoo third chapter finally done and posted after months and months (oh dear.)
I found this chapter very hard to write and its still not 100 how I imagined it but what's done is done. I made up Reno's childhood and I'm sorry that its predictable and tragic and cliché but hey it fit into my idea.
This chapter started strange with the summing up of what it is to be a Turk but I wanted to put it (even though it should have maybe gone in chapter one.) And also I know Reno seemed to crack up very suddenly, but hey it happens when bad memories help to trigger something, well I think. So it took ages, it's kind of depressing (next time I shall put in some light relief hehe oh and Cloud) but hey its longer than the last one.
Well till next time…
Thanks for reading feel free to review.
Cheers Kitty (Aka Milly)