Naril: Hey guys... uhm...so, this is rather short unfortunately. I uhm... have a lot of work to do so there is not much time for my muses...
Reno: *sits in corner and grumbles*
Naril: Yes, Reno is already making me feel guilty for it. So... i guess i need to make some more cookies to keep him any everyone happy.
Reno: *jumps up* Cookies?
Naril: *sighs* On with the new chapter. Enjoy.
Chapter 5 - Enter Sandman
Say your prayers little one
Dont forget, my son
To include everyone
Tuck you in, warm within
Keep you free from sin
Till the sandman he comes
Sleep with one eye open
Gripping your pillow tight
Exit light
Enter night
Take my hand
Off to never never land
Somethings wrong, shut the light
Heavy thoughts tonight
And they arent of snow white
Dreams of war, dreams of liars
Dreams of dragons fire
And of things that will bite
Sleep with one eye open
Gripping your pillow tight
Exit light
Enter night
Take my hand
Off to never never land
Now I lay me down to sleep
Pray the lord my soul to keep
If I die before I wake
Pray the lord my soul to take
Hush little baby, dont say a word
And never mind that noise you heard
Its just the beast under your bed,
In your closet, in your head
Exit light
Enter night
Grain of sand
Exit light
Enter night
Take my hand
Were off to never never land
Metallica
He was grinning, standing on shaky legs on the Sector 7 pillar. Blood was dripping from his face into the collar of his suit, painting a sticky trail down his back, where it glued the fabric uncomfortably to his overheated skin.
It did not matter, his shirt was already soaked through with crimson from the stab-wound paralyzing his left shoulder. He was lucky he had been fast enough to evade the full brunt of it or it would have gone right through his heavily pounding heart.
He was long out of breath, no longer able to taunt his opponents, so he simply spit blood at their feet. He did not need to meet their eyes to know what he would be faced with.
The blonde ex-SOLDIER was watching him out of calculating, cold mako-eyes, focused solely on a way to kill his adversary; next to him, the burly gun-man was spitting hate at him, gun-arm smoking from the bullets he had showered him with; and then of course the delicate looking martial artist who's eyes were wide with grief and fear, fixed on him with determination.
He had known this was pretty much a suicide-mission, but he had still volunteered when Heidegger had told them what had to be done. It had been simple, Tseng was too valuable as the leader, Rude was the most reliable of their department. He was replacable. Another slum-rat as cannon-fodder would not bother anyone.
Also as far as he knew Heidegger already had a new recruit that he kept blabbing about. Apparently a girl that had some kind of ties with their department already. Probably the daughter of some executive looking for kicks. Those never lasted long. Not that he really cared. Anyone signing up for this work on a voluntary basis was a nutcase in his opinion.
He contemplated his situation, casting a barely stable pyramid at the guy with the chocobo-haircut. He grinned at the thought, tasting blood on his teeth. Veld never would have let him do this. There had been things they did back then, that gave him nightmares still, but these proportions were something that the former Head of department would have tried anything to avoid. Well, he was gone now, living with his daughter somewhere the company could not find them.
Perhaps he simply had a death wish. Perhaps it would be easier if he did not live to see the consequences of his actions. He winced, and wrapped his good arm, the one which did not have three bullets lodged in it, around his torso. Breathing hurt, fighting had become near impossible, and even standing was a feat.
Blinking heavily, his eyes flickered to the explosion device he had activated. Even if he wanted to, he could not stop it now. He had numbly accepted it, did not even consider terminating the sequence somehow. His loyalty to the company was the one thing he never questioned. That did not mean he could sleep at night.
With enourmous effort, he lifted his head, flashing the three Avalanche-members the most devious smirk he could manage despite the strain of his injuries. He would not feel them much longer, but hell if he was going to go out burning to oblivion. It was time to end this with flair.
"It's time." He choked out, not able to draw enough breath for anything else. For last words it was pretty lame, his garbled mind thought.
Before the three others could react, he raced towards the railing in a bout of adrenaline and did not hesitate as he threw himself off the platform, tumbling towards the abyss beneath.
With a gasp, Reno woke, his hands clutching the sheet beneath him. Aquamarine eyes glew with hints of mako as he stared into the darkness surrounding him while he tried to get his breathing back under control.
It was not new, this dream, but that made it none the easier. After what felt like an eternity, he turned over onto his back, running a slightly shaky palm over his eyes.
"Uh,...Turkey?"
His eyes shot open. A dark silhouette stood in the doorway. More awake now, his hand retreated from where it had automatically grabbed for his gun under the pillow.
"What d'you want, brat?" He asked, falling back to lie flat on the bed.
"I...uhm...I can't sleep." The ninja spoke, inching her way further into his room. "I...I keep hearing stuff."
Through his fingers he cast her an incredolous glance. "How old are you?"
"Reno!" She whined and that had him refrain from another comment. She was serious, she really could not sleep.
With a sigh and a grunt he turned onto his side, scooting over a little. It was not like they had not done this before, why should it bother him?
"Get in already!" He mumbled, face already buried in the pillow again.
To his utter surprise, she did not say anthing, but climbed into the bed, lying down in a mirror-image of him, her back to his.
Deciding that he had to little sleep to care, the redhead tried to get back to catch up on exactly that.
"Turkey?" Her voice cut through his half-conscious mind.
-"Hm?" Could this not wait till morning?
"You don't think it's my fault those people got hurt?" She whispered.
Frowning, he opened his eyes again. "What're you on about?"
The covers rustled as she turned to face him. "You know, if I had not disappeared, noone else would have been targeted." Yuffie told his back quietly.
The ex-Turk gave a sigh and rolled onto his other side. That had to be one of the most stupid things he had ever heard.
"Listen, princess..." He started to say, but halted at the sight of her so close to this own face.
Violet eyes were glassy with unshed tears and she was hugging his spare pillow tightly. He could tell she was truly and badly scared and that she thought the whole thing all down to her did not help matters either.
"It ain't your fault, alright?" He eventually told her, doing his best to keep his voice steady.
Staring at her a minute longer, as she gulped down the sob threatening to spill forth, he forced his eyes shut and turned back around. This was proving to be much more difficult than he had expected. Tiredly he dug his face into the pillow, turning more onto his stomach.
"Turkey?" She spoke up again a minute later.
"What now?" came his muffled reply. It was all the patience he could muster.
"I was gonna thank you, but now you can shove that up your..."
-"Can that wait till tomorrow?" This time the ghost of amusement could be heard in his voice.
"You're a prick, Turkey!" Yuffie could not contain the yawn as she said this, the insult not at all effective.
"Whatever." Reno threw back lamely, but it really did not matter, because Yuffie just mumbled something unintelligable and appeared to be well on her way to sleep.
Mind too awake to let his still tired body sleep, he stared into the dark above his head for a while.
°°°TBC°°°
Naril: Review? I'll make cookies for the next chapter.