13. Coda

Rude sank down to the floor. His legs felt like a pair of tree trunks. Cissnei may have Cured his injuries, but she couldn't make the exhaustion go away.

"Shiva's breath," Rayleigh whispered. She pressed her head to the door and ran her fingers over the stones that masked it. "Unbelievable. Incredible. I just don't have the words. It felt so real..."

She laughed, shrill and brittle, and pushed her hands through her hair.

"Forget the part where you almost gouged your eyes out already?" Reno asked. He had slumped down on the edge of the bed, his chest still heaving with labored breaths.

"Proper precautions must be taken, of course, but... There's no end to the research possibilities with such a potent hallucinogen. How it enters the body, how it reaches the brain, which signaling pathways it affects and how... Just think what we could learn!"

She was practically gushing. Rude wondered if she thought she'd hallucinated the caretaker's broken corpse at the foot of the stairs. Maybe she hadn't even noticed it.

Yet he couldn't blame her for it. Fragments of that visual cacophony kept flashing in and out of Rude's mind, afterimages lingering like a nightmare you couldn't quite remember. It was impossible to sift out what had been real.

In the steady light of the ceiling lamp above them, feeling his palms dig into the plush red rug on the floor, it certainly felt to Rude like none of it should have been real. He wasn't sure how much time had passed after they shut the door behind them, but everything had been quiet since. No strange visions or sounds, no pressure squeezing his brain. If not for their filthy, blood-stained clothes, he might have thought it had all been a fevered dream.

With a chuckle, Reno shook his head.

"You still think it's just a fuckin' mold, huh?"

"I am trying to curb my enthusiasm to a realistic level, Mr. Turk. But if your ideas hold true, and it does turn out to be some breed of telepathic entity..." Slowly, a grin spread across Rayleigh's face. "That would be huge."

Rude recalled the falling darkness, the abrupt end to the wail inside his head. He didn't have the heart to point out that she might no longer have an entity to study.

Rayleigh spun around and traced the outline of the secret door in the air with her fingers.

"We have to seal this passage, make sure no one finds it until I return. I'll need to coordinate with my team, with the other teams..." She pushed her messy hair out of her blood-streaked face. Her eyes danced along the shelves of books, and lit upon her notes scattered across the bed. "I have to meet with Professor Hojo as soon as possible!"

"Yeah, in person," Reno said, swaying to his feet. "We're gettin' the fuck out, now."

Rayleigh was the first to leave the manor. She scurried out with her PHS held high, looking for a signal, with a box of her samples and notes tucked under her arm. Rude came second. As soon as he was through the front doors, he stopped and drew in a deep breath. The crisp mountain air had never tasted this good before.

"Huh, it's night already." Reno glanced at his watch. "Just how long were we in that basement?"

"Hopefully just the one day," Cissnei said, rubbing her arms as she hugged herself.

Reno took one look at her and shrugged out of his jacket. She raised her eyebrows as he wrapped it around her shoulders.

"You're the one who'll be shivering now, Red."

"Nah, it's fine. Everyone tells me I'm too hot-blooded, yo."

He grinned. She responded with half a smile.

"Does that mean I'm the cold-blooded bitch?"

"Whoa, did someone call you that? If it happens again, come find me, all right? I wanna watch you kick their ass."

Cissnei's smile grew.

"Sure. Be nice and I'll even let you join in."

Reno laughed and draped his arm around her. She started laughing, too – soft chuckles, low against Reno's delighted snickering. Soon Rude felt his own laughter bubble up within him, impossible to hold back. As it spilled out of him to join theirs, Reno threw his other arm around Rude's shoulders and pulled the three of them together.

"You know what, guys?" he asked once their laughter had petered out. "We finished the mission, yo."

"Like the Turks we are," Cissnei added, wiping her eyes.

"Damn straight we are." Reno clapped their shoulders. "When we get back to Midgar, drinks are on me."

"Oh, I think we can make you regret that promise," Cissnei said and peered around Reno. "Right, Rude?"

Rude gave her a solemn nod. Reno grinned and squeezed them tight in his rangy arms.

"That's what I'm countin' on, guys. Let's go home."

A/N:

It's finished! Phew, this one sure took some effort. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this until the end, with special thanks to all who have commented, faved and followed, aaand extra special thanks to my beta reader, Mr. Stompy!

(For those who are curious about the creature, it was inspired by chapter 13 of Before Crisis, which takes place a few months after this story.)