OMG look how quickly I updated! Aren't you all just so proud of me. To be honest I was really surprised by how many people liked this one.
The next evening Tseng found Reno in the office engrossed in his computer. Shaking his head, Tseng stepped up beside him and placed down a mug of fresh coffee which Reno quickly
grabbed, mumbling a quiet 'thanks'. There was silence for a few moments, broken only by the click clacking of the keyboard, before Tseng spoke in a soft voice.
"Reno, why are you looking for your brother? I thought he was dead." Reno stiffened a bit and scratched the back of his neck for a moment before answering.
"I was just… rememberin' somethin'… and it didn't feel right. Like… like my memory was off…. And the whole thing was really clear… clearer than it should've been after ten years: I can
remember every word. I can even tell you the exact moment when the door slammed shut…. Somethin' just seems off about that….." Tseng frowned; Reno was right. After a decade, no
one – not even the general – should be able to remember something in such perfect detail.
"I'll help you, Reno. But you have to tell me what you remember and why you're looking so deeply into it: I need you to tell me everything." By the time he finished, Reno was scowling
up at man. Sure, he'd had a huge crush on the handsome brunette Wutaian for a couple of years but that didn't mean he appreciated the man prying into his business. Tseng
narrowed his eyes; he'd have to do this the hard way.
"I noticed you're still clocked in," Reno scowl slipped. "You're doing performing an unofficial investigation on company time and you're getting paid for it. So I suggest you give me the
information I asked for before I decide to report you." Reno was in shock, staring up at his superior with a whole new light: Tseng had just blackmailed him?! He shouldn't be surprised,
he guessed, Tseng was a TURK after all. His scowl returned.
"Fine," he fell silent, his face hard and scowling but his eyes betraying how vulnerable he felt, how much what had happened still hurt him after so long.
"I never knew my parents," he started. "For as long as I can remember Axel was the one takin' care of me. There was a pretty big age gap between us: I was 12 when he left, he was
23. I always… I wanted to be just like him, y'know. Sure, we were pretty poor, livin' in the slums and all, but we managed to get by and Axel was always real optimistic about
everythin'. I loved him, y'know. He was my best friend, my brother and my father figure….. Then one day, he came home early from work – this is where that weird memory comes in –
and he just started packing and yellin' about how I was worthless and that I was holdin' him back from the life he wanted…. At exactly 2:23 pm the door slammed shut and… everythin'
gets a little fuzzy…." Reno rubbed his eyes tiredly and Tseng couldn't help feeling just a tad guilty for forcing this out of him. Reno continued, his voice choked with tears and his eyes
brimming, though he refused to let them fall.
"I remember hatin' him after that. I hated him so much that I never really thought about the day it happened. But the other day was his birthday and I couldn't help thinkin' about it:
him acting like that was so out of character. He'd never yelled at me before and he always told me how much he loved me. He'd go on and on about how he'd do anythin' to keep me
safe. So I wanted to find him…. Figure out just what had happened, y'know…." Reno trailed off, staring into the mocha brown of his coffee. Tseng's heart clenched at the pain in the red
head's eyes and, in a move so out of character of him that Reno jumped about a foot in the air, Tseng wrapped his arms tightly around his subordinate and gave him a light squeeze.
"I'll help you find him Reno, if you'll let me," and he sounded so sincere that a tear slipped down Reno's cheek.
"I'd appreciate it." The red head mumbled as he turned in the dark haired man's embrace to bury his face in the space between Tseng's neck and shoulder.
Tell me what you think about the slight Reno/Tseng thing going on. I'm not sure if I'll keep it there or not. Maybe next chapter we'll find out what happened to Axel