Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square Enix and no financial profit is sought from this work.

Warnings: language, violence, blood, death and yaoi

Chapter Seven: Decisions

The humming of the engine was the only sound that cut trough the tense silence in the back of the van, and the silence was making Reno feel uncomfortable. He tried to sit still and quiet like the rest of the passengers, but his nervous energy forced him to idly play with his ponytail or the buttons of his half undone shirt or with anything he could get his hands on.

Starting to feel stupid and unprofessional in his nervousness, he stopped poking at his watch and spared a look at his co-workers in the van. His eyes fell almost instantly on the source of the choking silence. It didn't take a mind reader to tell that Sephiroth was pissed. Though the General was very good at concealing his emotions, his anger was evident in his narrowed, blazing eyes, and he kept intently staring at the van wall in front of him somewhere over Rude's shoulder, and Reno had to wonder just how uncomfortable his partner must feel when the angry gaze was directed almost directly at him. At that moment Reno was very grateful that he wasn't the one sitting opposite to Sephiroth.

Reno turned his gaze away from Sephiroth and Rude and looked at Zack who was sitting opposite to him. Even the dark haired SOLDIER was sitting silently and was somewhere deep in thought. This made Reno even more nervous, because usually, when an awkward silence fell upon them, Zack tried to lighten up the mood, but now he was sitting quietly next to his commander and was staring off into space. That, if anything was enough to prove the fact that Sephiroth was extremely pissed, and would probably bite somebody's head of if said someone tried to crack a stupid joke, or even dared to breathe too loudly.

When nothing and no-one would chase away the silence and ease his nervousness, Reno decided to follow his friend's example and think of something else than the General's anger level. He tried to grab any passing though that floated in his mind to keep himself entertained and sane for the rest of the ride, but his nervousness and sleep deprivation together shortened his attention span enough that forming sober thoughts was quite difficult. And soon Reno found his gaze scanning his surroundings and finally falling on Sephiroth… again.

Even though the General was angry, and when angry he was at his scariest, Reno couldn't tear his eyes from him. Even when the man was most likely furious in the inside, to the outside he still managed to look composed and cool. The only thing to betray his calm composure, besides his eyes, was his mouth that was drawn to a thin, angry line.

To his surprise and chock, Reno soon found himself thinking if those lips were as soft in reality as they had been in his dream. And then the Turk started feeling extremely embarrassed. Here he was, thinking about a stupid (yet very pleasurable) dream about the world's greatest General, when he should have been thinking about how to explain himself to said world's greatest, pissed General.

Forcing the thoughts about Sephiroth's kisses, caresses and the overall events of his dream back into the furthest corner of his mind, or better yet, out of his mind, Reno decided that this had to stop. It was very much influencing his work and taking his mind off from the important tings at hand. Some part of Reno wanted to reason that there was no reason to worry about it like this, it was just a dream, a dream that he had had only few hours ago, so it was only normal that his mind still lingered on it. But then another part of him was hotly arguing that statement, pointing out that he had never before stopped to think about his other wet dreams for this long, especially in a situation like this. But that was what an obsession was, thinking about the source of the obsession at all times, and Reno had already admitted being obsessed with Sephiroth. An obsession that just had to stop.

That decided, the only thing was to figure out exactly how to rid himself of the obsession. Sadly, there were no rehab centres for poor people suffering from a Sephiroth obsession, so Reno had to think something else. The easiest way would probably be to avoid seeing the man, but that was impossible, Reno was co-operating with him, and he wouldn't drop off the case, first of all, it wasn't his decision to make and no way would he confess to anyone about his obsession!

Suddenly, a certain event from his childhood came to Reno's mind. When Reno had been about six years old, he had been almost obsessed about getting a pellet gun. He had insisted his parents to buy one for him, and when that hadn't worked he had even tried to steal it. When he had finally gotten the toy for his birthday present, he had played with it for a week and then forgotten all about it.

Reno wasn't six anymore, but people don't really chance so much in ten years. Maybe the same thing would happen again; get a taste of his obsession, then forget it and move on.

It was worth a shot. After all, what did he have to lose? Well, considering that Sephiroth didn't seem to be interested romantically engaging himself into anything, and would probably eliminate anyone who dared to touch him in a way that didn't please him, Reno had quite a lot to lose. But if he didn't act and get it over with, it was only a matter of time until he would open his mouth in the wrong place, at the wrong time and to the wrong person, and then he would have to suffer the General's wrath anyway.

So, Reno decided that if he didn't get over his obsession in the following days, he would execute his plan. It wouldn't have to be anything big, a simple kiss would do.

The rest of the ride was spent in the same tense silence, as Reno wondered different ways to save his face and possibly more, if things really came down to acting on his plan. The Turk had never heard if Sephiroth had ever been with anyone, and it could be assumed that, like most people in the world, he was straight. So getting unwanted attention from a man might anger the SOLDIER more than getting unwanted attention from a woman, and that, considering his well-known reputation as a cold hearted killing machine could cause massive trouble to Reno.

When the van reached it's destination at the ShinRa building's parking lot, Sephiroth stood, opened the door and stepped gracefully down from the car. The rest of the passengers followed him like good little puppies following their master.

Just when Reno was about to end the silence and announce that he would be heading home to get some much wanted sleep before his next shift started, Sephiroth's deep voice reached his ears.

"I want to see you Turks in my office. I'd like to hear a report concerning on what exactly happened before we arrived at the scene." Sephiroth didn't even turn to look at them as he said it; instead he just kept walking towards the elevator.

Reno turned to look at Zack, almost pleading for help. All he got was an apologetic shrug saying there was nothing he could do to help. Surrendering, the redhead turned to his partner and they followed Sephiroth to the elevator and to their doom.

The silence was even more uncomfortable in the small space of the elevator than it had been in the wan. Though Sephiroth's tone had been calm and now he was also standing calmly and watching the red numbers above the elevator's door, it was clear to both Reno and Rude that once they reached Sephiroth's office they'd be exposed to the General's rage and a suitable punishment.

When the door opened to the right floor revealing the hall, Sephiroth stepped out and the Turks followed him to his office. The General walked behind his desk but didn't sit down and didn't offer a seat to the Turks either.

"Now, tell me, how is it possible that you've let the resistance movement escape not only once, but twice?" Sephiroth asked, his voice betraying its calmness only little. Though the question itself wasn't directed exactly to him, Sephiroth's eyes never left Reno as he spoke. That made the redhead nervous and a little angry too.

While Reno was fighting not to let either of those emotions show on his face, Rude, perhaps out of senior obligations, started: "Though I wasn't personally involved in the firs incident, I can say that it was out of an unfortunate change of plans on the target's side and a lacking contacting possibilities from ours, sir. And for today, the target must have noticed us and decided to move. Or, it's in their plan to keep on moving so that they're harder to find."

"'Lacking contacting possibilities'?" the SOLDIER repeated, "Perhaps there was something else that was lacking, in the firs escape? Something that was also involved in this one?" Sephiroth's eyes had barely moved to glance at Rude during his speech; instead they had been looking at Reno, making the young Turk feel even more uncomfortable. And the words, with their innuendo, even when said in an even tone, were enough to make Reno snap.

"Are you accusin' me on this?!"

"It was more of and observation than an accusation, though I wouldn't object calling it that," Sephiroth replied in a cold tone.

"And how the hell can you blame me?!" Reno yelled, truly offended, "You were the ones late today!" Reno continued, pointing towards the man on the other side of the desk as he made his accusation.

It must have been the man's unbelievably good ability to conceal his emotions, since Sephiroth didn't seem to react to the redhead's outburst at all. Though he placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward, closer to the Turks, making himself seem more intimidating. Then he said in calm, almost patronizing tone: "It didn't cross your mind to hold them back while we were in our way to the scene? It's a part of your job."

Before Reno could open his mouth again and throw out another angry and idiotic defense, Rude, finally getting over the shock that his young partner had actually lashed out at the General, butted in into their quarrel. "The target was highly armed, sir. And since we were ordered to just gather information, we didn't have the proper armory with us and we were also outnumbered. So, attacking them would have been a highly impractical thing to do, sir." And then, hoping that it would calm Sephiroth down a little, he added: "We're terribly sorry, sir."

Then the bald Turk gave Reno a look behind his shades that told the redhead to just shut up and swallow his pride. The young man had been really defensive towards his skill and profession from the very start he became a Turk, and while that attitude could take him high up the company ladder, it could also be his downfall if he didn't learn to obey and respect his superiors, especially if those superiors happened to be living war legends with a deadly reputation.

Reno understood the look and stayed silent, though he made a note that he wasn't happy with it by releasing a frustrated sigh.

For the firs time since entering the office, Sephiroth had been looking at Rude when the Turk spoke. And probably the explanation the older Turk had offered had had its desired effect on the SOLDIER, for Sephiroth straightened himself and ignored Reno's sigh of protest.

"Has the number of the participants in the resistance movement increased?" Sephiroth asked, looking like there had been no fight at all. Unlike Reno, whose fists were clenched angrily and he was glaring the General.

"If our count was right, there were 16 people in the hideout," Rude answered, not trusting his partner to come up with a reply polite enough.

"So they have managed to recruit three more people," Sephiroth thought out loud. "How strongly armed were they?"

"From what we saw, they had many firearms, both pistols and rifles, and a few close contact weapons as well: spears and knives and short swords. And it is safe to assume that they have materia, too, but of which level, we don't know." Rude answered.

Sephiroth was quiet for a while, processing the information he was given. "Fine. I understand your decision to withdraw," he said finally, and the Turks released a relieved breath, or at least Rude did, Reno was still too angry. "But," the SOLDIER continued, "I want a written report concerning the incident, and I want it on my desk by tomorrow morning. You have the permission to take a leave from your next search shift, if you need the extra time to write the report." Then Sephiroth sat down and gave the Turks the permission to leave.

They nodded, said the formalities, though Reno did it through gritted teeth, and exited the office. Once they had closed the door, and most likely thought that they were out of Sephiroth's earshot, they started talking. But with his better hearing, Sephiroth heard them anyway.

"What the hell was that, Reno? You yelled at the General." Though a little angry, the voice was surprised above all.

"Oh, shut up. Didn't ya hear how he accused me when he was late? He's just too damn proud to admit that he's wrong." The voice was marred with the same anger and frustration of before. And then the volume lowered a lot and the frustration grew. "Fuckin' narcissist hypocrite… I can't believe I'm actually havin' dreams about him…"

There was a pause, and then: "What?"

"Nothin'. Just forget that." The voice was rushed, and a little bit troubled but most of all angry. "Let's go write the fuckin' report."

Then there were footsteps and another opening and closing of a door as the Turks left the waiting room and walked away.

Sephiroth sat behind his desk, mildly confused and still a little bit angry. First of all, he didn't like being called a narcissist hypocrite, especially when it wasn't true, and he didn't like that the mission had failed again. But it wasn't Reno's name calling that was at the top of his mind, it was the mentioning of a dream. Unlike the name calling, that comment had been completely unexpected, and it left him confused.

After thinking for a while about what Reno might have meant, Sephiroth decided that since he didn't know the whole context, and most importantly, he didn't care, he dropped the subject and concentrated on the job.

The resistance movement had escaped again, and the number of members had increased. The SOLDIER First nomination party would be held after eleven days, and the President wanted the movement gone before that day because the party was a public event and it would be a perfect opportunity for the movement to strike. And Sephiroth wanted the movement gone before the party too, he knew he would hate the party enough already without the President being edgy because the movement was still on the loose. And he also wanted to get the case closed. It had already taken them over two weeks, and during that time there had been two failures, and Sephiroth had gotten himself a loud, lazy and cocky co-worker with a temper.

He didn't like failures. And he wasn't greatest friends with Reno at the moment either.

Rude was right, the Turks weren't properly armed when they were just gathering information, and even if they started carrying more and better weapons with them, they still couldn't take the whole movement down, or even hold them back long enough for the SOLDIERs to arrive at the scene. The Turks really were good fighters, but they couldn't be a mach to highly armed group of 16 people; there was a good reason why both the Turks and SOLDIER were working in this case together.

And, even though he had voiced his thought inappropriately, Reno was right too. The SOLDIERs had been late, but there was nothing that could be done to that. Depending on where the resistance movement's hideout was in the slums, it would take them from 20 to 45 minutes to get there from the plate, and a lot could happen in twenty minutes, just like today's incident had proved.

Taking all those things into consideration, Sephiroth decided that there was only one thing that he could do. He wasn't going to like it, but he really wanted to get an end to this.

He picked up his phone and told his secretary to inform the President that he would be coming over.

A/N: I'm really, really sorry it took me this long to update! But first I was busy with school and then I had a very persistent case of haitsu running around in my head, refusing to give room to any other fandoms, and then I had computer problems … and other excuses to hide the fact that I've just been downright lazy. Really, I didn't even realize how fast six months can go by.

And thanks for all the lovely reviews, those have been one thing that have been urging me to continue writing this story. I hope that at least someone is still reading Stray and you all haven't given up on me and the story.