"S-Sir," Reno choked, pulling away from vodka-soaked lips. "I…" He sat up, pulling away from Rufus' surprisingly strong grip. He slipped out of the bed, face red, and scurried for the door.

"Stop, Reno."

Reno didn't listen, grabbing the knob and yanking the door open.

"I'll fire you!"

The door slammed and Reno stomped off to his room, ignoring a growling Dark Nation that began to paw at the door. Reno went into the guest room he had been staying in, slammed and locked the door, took his clothes off, and crawled into bed in the nude. He just laid there for a while in the silence that had settled, staring up at the ceiling with his hands in weak fists at his sides. He could feel his arousal between his legs, but he closed his eyes and began to will it away. He mentally started scolding himself, knowing that he shouldn't have given Rufus that alcohol in the first place. His scolding stopped, however, when he heard soft sobs coming from down the hall.

He just kept his eyes closed and went to sleep.

Reno was up before Rufus in the morning, which was becoming usual. Rufus had been going to bed early and sleeping in even later. Reno had been eating his breakfast, getting ready for work, and even had the time to take Dark Nation for a walk before Rufus even stirred. Reno got dressed after taking a quick shower, trying to forget about what had happened last night as he headed down to the kitchen for breakfast. He grabbed some frozen waffles that he had bought and stuck them in the toaster, feeding Dark Nation in the time that it took for the waffles to pop up again.

He grabbed a plate and drowned his waffles in syrup, carrying the plate to the living room to eat. He turned on the morning news and began to eat, just barely paying attention to the news anchor.

He didn't know what to do about what had happened last night. He knew Rufus would have one hell of a hangover, not to mention regrets. He didn't know if Rufus would find a way to blame Reno for it, but he was still a little nervous about the whole ordeal. He didn't even know what his feelings towards Rufus were, but he really didn't want to think about that at six fucking o'clock in the morning.

"No one knows where this mysterious disease has come from, but doctors all over the Midgar area are looking for answers. And now for the weather."

Reno blinked, having missed the entire story. He decided to put the disease from his mind and took the weather into consideration, glancing out the window to find out that the report of all-day thunderstorms was already coming true. He frowned at Dark Nation as she trotted in, giving her ears a rub as she reluctantly sat next to him on the couch.

"Sorry, girl, but the weather ain't gonna let us go for our walk today."

She whimpered a little and laid down in defeat, resting her large head on Reno's lap. He pet the base of her antenna… thing, idly wondering what the proper term for it was. He kept eating his waffles with his fingers, getting them all sticky with syrup. But the mess wasn't much of worry, as Dark Nation began to lick his fingers clean.

"Damn, you're friendly this morning," Reno muttered, a little suspicious of the hound. "You must be pretty upset about the rain, huh? Or is it because you couldn't sleep with Rufus last night and you're all starved for attention?" He chuckled as Dark Nation gave him a curious look. "I'm crazy, I know. I'm talkin' to a damn mutt."

She growled a bit, as if she was offended.

"You must understand me, huh?"

And with that, she jumped off the couch and trotted upstairs.

Reno sighed and turned off the TV, carrying his plate to the kitchen to clean up a bit, washing his hands of guard hound drool. The power flickered briefly from the storm and he couldn't help but laugh at the irony. The power going out at Shinra's own house.

He made his way upstairs, knowing it was a bit early for Rufus to be woken up, but not caring. There was nothing else for him to do, other than sit in his own worry. He knocked lightly on the door before he walked in, surprised to see that Rufus was already awake, sitting up in bed with his head in his hands.

"Hangover?" Reno guessed, walking over to his closet to get Rufus' clothes.

He groaned, "Worse."

Reno raised an eyebrow, laying his clothes out on the bed. "Worse?"

He held up his hand, which was still wrapped tight in bandages. "My hand hurts like h-hell." He winced, lowering himself back into a slouching position. "It hurts…"

Reno took the hand, glad that Rufus didn't seem to remember what happened last night. He unwrapped the bandages, face perfectly serious as he revealed the skin. He tossed the bandage aside to examine it, but he froze.

The cut from last night was healing very well, but that wasn't what made Reno stop. The skin on the back of his hand was covered in gray, purple, and blue blotches, as if it was bruising. The marks went up to his wrist, nearly to his elbow. As he touched it warily, Rufus' breath hitched and he jerked his hand back.

"Don't touch it!"

Reno was still stunned. "Sir… It looks like bruising."

"It's not fucking bruising. If it was, it wouldn't hurt this damn bad!" he shouted, clearly pissed off at the combination of his hangover, the marks, and the lack of sleep. "Give me my clothes."

The topic dropped and Reno silently dressed him after fixing the bandages on his back, helping him into his wheelchair after it had all been done. Rufus denied a bath, feeling too in pain and tired to take one. He passed on breakfast too, and the two of them had an hour to spare before work. Reno sat down in front of the news again and Rufus had used the newly installed chair lift to get up to his room after he took double the dose of pain pills he needed. Dark Nation followed him up, and Reno eventually gave up on the TV as the signal kept dropping in the shitty weather.

After an uncomfortable silence in the house, it was time to leave. Rude came to pick up Rufus, per usual, and Reno hitched a ride with them. He sat in the back, staring out the window and watching the storm. It was awful outside, the rain going sideways. The car kept blowing around, and the sky was lit up with constant lightning. The radio in the car was nothing but static, and Rude eventually shut it off out of annoyance. It looked like a damn hurricane was hitting, not that any of them knew what a hurricane was like.

"What's up with the weather?" Reno eventually muttered, breaking the awkward silence.

Rude didn't answer, too focused on keeping the car steady as he drove through flooded streets with windshield wipers going as fast as possible. Rufus didn't answer either, busy examining his hand, which he had wrapped up in bandages. He kept rubbing it, wondering why it felt so cold.

Reno sighed, slouching down in his seat in the thick silence.

The car suddenly jerked as Rude stomped on the brakes, causing an unbuckled Reno to hit the back of his seat and the seatbelt to dig into Rufus and Rude's shoulders. The car came to a shuddering halt, kids running out in front of them.

"Fucking kids! Rude, you could've hit 'em!" Reno shouted, peeling himself off of the seat. "Shit, yo!"

The car eventually moved once the children had gone, only going another block until it stopped at the office. Tseng was there to greet them, struggling to hold an umbrella in the wind. He held extras, handing one to Rude as Reno just sprinted for the doors, holding them open as the rain beat him down. When they all got inside, they looked like they had all just crawled out of a lake. Elena gave them towels and went to the Turks' office to get fresh clothes. Rufus just wheeled into his office in his damp suit, not saying a word.

"How's he been?" Elena asked softly, standing on the other side of the cubicle wall as Reno got dressed.

He sighed, fastening his belt before grabbing up a clean and dry white shirt. "Shitty."

"Really?" she murmured, her voice weak.

"Yeah. Last night, he didn't wanna take his pills. Drank half a bottle of vodka instead."

She turned, watching his head over the wall. "What? You let him do that?" she hissed, glaring.

He sighed, tugging his wet goggles off an drying them on his shirt before he buttoned it up. "Look, it was that or he would just get more depressed!" he snapped defensively, pushing back his wet hair and putting on his goggles again.

"Yeah, well alcohol won't help that!"

"I'm just trying to be nice to the guy," he growled, leaving the top four buttons undone as he grabbed up the black blazer. "He's more than just in pain. He's doing… really shitty. I just…" He looked down at his bare feet, away from Elena. "I don't know what else to do."

A quiet settled over them and Elena sat down in her chair, looking at the pens arranged on her desk. She sighed softly, looking up at Reno's head after a bit. "Tseng told me about his hand," she said softly.

Reno looked up again. "The markings?"

"Yes. The bandages came off in the rain and he had to wrap him up again. Is it internal bleeding?"

"Nah… Not that." He kept his wet shoes off, joining Elena in her cubicle and sitting on the desk. He clasped his hands on his lap and looked down at them, frowning. "I dunno what it is… He said it hurt really bad. On the ride here, he kept massaging it. But when I touched it, he said it hurt…"

"We should get a doctor to look at him. He's due for a follow-up."

"Y'know he's too damn stubborn for that," Reno muttered, looking over at her. "Besides, we won't be going anywhere in this damn weather. We should've just stayed home."

"I know, but he needs it." She shrugged, placing a hand next to Reno's thigh on the desk. "We have to be here… We have to rebuild Shinra."

"Yeah? Too late for that, Laney. Shinra's as good as dead. Rufus… I hate to say it, but I really don't think Rufus is gonna last much longer. He's in too bad of shape to keep this company on its feet." He slid off the desk, grabbing the towel from the floor and wringing out his hair again. "We're done for. I want this place to survive as much as you do, but I don't see it getting better."

"Reno…"

"You know it's true." He slung the towel over his shoulder, giving her a weak smile. "We'll be alright, Laney. It's just gonna be hard."

She nodded, but the both of them looked up as the lights flickered.

"Seriously, yo… What's with the weather?"

Elena shook her head. "No idea. I heard on the radio that the storm came out of nowhere. They're expecting it to last all day, but they can't really predict it. Sounds like the weather's this freaky all over the world."

"All of Gaia?"

She nodded.

"Damn…" He looked up at the flickering lights one more time before he gave an indifferent shrug and walked away, planning on getting some shuteye.

By the time the work day was over, the weather was still disastrous. If anything, it had gotten worse. The power continued to flicker now and again, but never went out. Staff decided to stay, wanting to wait out the storm. Rufus was still in his office, but no one had talked to him all day. That is, until he called Tseng into his office at seven.

When the director came in, Rufus was slouched in his chair and trying to open a pill bottle one handed. Wordlessly, Tseng approached and took the bottle from him, opening it and handing him one of the large pain pills.

"Is it your back, Sir?"

Rufus weakly shook his head, downing the rest of his coffee with the pill. "Hand."

Tseng's somber expression never changed. "May I see your hand?"

Rufus nodded, but didn't move it. "I can't lift it for the pain… It's going all the way up my arm by now."

He nodded, approaching him and carefully lifting his arm, remaining indifferent to his gasp of pain. He unwrapped his hand and carefully rolled up his sleeve, staring at the gray-blue markings. "Sir…"

"Tell me what the hell it is," he demanded, his tone rather tired.

"I… I'm not sure what it is, Sir." A crease appeared on his forehead as he frowned, ghosting his fingers over the markings.

His arm dropped back to his chair and he looked away. "Then get me more pain pills. I want to sleep."

"Yes, Sir."

Reno was lying on the couch in the break room, half asleep as Elena and Tseng tried to make microwave meals into an actual dinner. Rude sat on the couch by Reno's feet, trying to text but getting the signal denied every time. The phone towers were out and had been out since noon, and the internet had been soon to follow. Reno had left his phone at Rufus' house, so had tried using Rude's to get a hold of his mom. He was worried about her, but it wasn't like he could do anything. So he just laid there, trying to distract himself with counting the flecks of gray on the white ceiling. It wasn't working.

He was worried about his mom, most of all, but he was also still a bit nervous over what had happened last night. He had barely even talked to Rufus today and he hadn't seen him since morning. He figured that Rufus either hadn't remembered yet, or it was another one of those things that he just didn't want to talk about. He was alright with letting it drop though, pretending like it didn't happen. It was embarrassing to him, having shown that vulnerable side of himself to his boss. He wasn't going to tell a soul – not even Rude. Not even his mother. This was his issue to deal with it. His and Rufus'.

"How did the love issue work out?"

Reno groaned, sitting up to look at his partner. He opened his mouth to answer, but Elena had turned around and was glaring at them.

"You've got a girlfriend, Reno? You realize that's an awful idea, right? Affections can get in the way of work and-"

"I know," Reno snapped, returning her glare in tenfold. "I'm single. You can take your own advice for once. Everyone knows what's going on between you and Tseng."

Elena closed her mouth, blushing up to her hair. Tseng didn't even turn around, completely focused on the microwave's timer.

"Knew it," he teased, sticking out his tongue before snatching his phone from Rude and beginning to hold it in all directions, trying to get a shred of signal.

"Towers are knocked out," his partner sighed before pulling himself to his feet, changing the topic to save Elena from her embarrassment. "We'll be stranded here for a while. This storm could last days."

"Don't say that," Reno whined, pouting. "I don't like work that much. I'd rather be-"

The power finally gave, the microwave making a rather unpleasant buzz as it powered off. The four of them fell silent and froze in their positions, the only light now coming from Reno's phone. They remained like that for several minutes, holding their breath in wait for the lights to come back on. They were left in the darkness, Reno being the first to break the silence.

"Well, shit."

Tseng sighed and pulled the half-cooked food from the microwave, tossing it with blind accuracy into the trash. "We should get back to the office. The president is in the dark by himself."

"He's not scared of the dark," Reno muttered, but he unfolded himself from the couch and led the way regardless, using his phone as a flashlight.

The Turks made their way silently and slowly, finding the building much more confusing when the power was out. The elevator was obviously out of use, no matter how many times Reno had stabbed the little silver button, so they were forced to take the stairs. Halfway up, the power came back on. With the electricity came a flashing light and a loud, automated voice over the previously unused PA system.

"Emergency security breach, level one hundred. Intruder alert. Security measure required. Emergency security breach, level one hundred."