He had to get inside. She was in there. She had to be.

He threw his weight into the lever, jumping away as sparks erupted from the switchboard. The building had power again, and he was glad for that. He couldn't get in without it, right? Yes, alarms could go off, but he didn't care. He just needed to get in. He ran across the flooded roof, wind whipping his short, soaked, silver hair around his head as he stumbled to the door. He grabbed the handle and snarled when it refused to yield. He took a step back and drew his sword, taking aim before slamming it into the knob over and over again until it fell clean off. He sheathed his weapon and stuck gloved fingers in the hole he had revealed, prodding around and unlocking it from the outside. Sure, there was an easier way to get in, but he wanted to have fun with this.

He kicked the door inwards once it was unlocked, running inside. His boots were slick with the rain, but he kept his balance with the perfection of something feline. He sprinted down concrete stairs and threw a door open at the bottom, coming to a three-way hallway. He chose the middle at random and began to run again, hoping he was going the right way. The siren of the security system was obnoxious to the highest degree. The wailing automated voice was reduced to a buzz in his ears and the flashing red and white lights just made his catlike pupils dilate into small slivers of black in blue-green pools.

He began to slow his running, opening every door he came to. Most were empty, few had a single bit of furniture, and even fewer were fully decorated. The last door he threw open led to a cement stairway, and he chose it as his path.

He didn't get very far down before he heard people coming up. He didn't stop running down. In fact, the only thing he did in preparation was draw Souba once again, wielding the double-bladed weapon in a relaxed stance.

It wasn't long before he and his enemies came within sight of each other. A sick grin spread on the man's face as he took in the other four's weapons. A woman and two men with guns, and the leading man with what looked like a silly white stick.

Could this get any easier?

Before they collided, the sounds of guns firing managed to barely drown out the automated alarm system. Every bullet missed, however, but they never stopped firing. They weren't close enough yet to see that the bullets were going straight through their target in a wisp of black smoke.

The silver haired man set his focus on the only one without a gun, seeing the man with goggles as the only threat he had to worry about. He picked up speed and jumped, skipping over half of the flight of stairs and planting his feet just inches away from the Turks.

Reno skidded to a halt, eyes wide, and swung his EMR in a wide arc. The man simply ducked, grabbing his wrist after the swing was completed and using his sword to deliver a quick slice across his stomach. Reno groaned and more gunshots went off, but the Turk was simply pushed away with a leather-clothed hand and fell against the wall.

Rude was next. He discarded his gun, letting an EMR of his own drop from his sleeve. He flipped the switch and the rod buzzed alive with electricity as he swung even stronger than Reno had, expecting the man to duck, but getting something else. He jumped back and again to the side, landing on the railing. He jumped down to the next flight and continued running, causing the Turks to curse in anger and keep up the chase.

Reno ran surprisingly strong, given that his abdomen was quickly getting soaked in his own blood. Elena fell behind to give him a bit of support, the four of them still keeping close to the intruder.

Their mistake was not looking behind them.

A foreign gunshot rang through the cement stairwell, echoing loudly as Elena cried out in pain at the bullet that had gone through her arm. She turned around and pushed Reno to continue running, grabbing her gun and aiming it at the newcomer.

He looked just like the other intruder, although his hair was longer and he had a certain inhuman beauty and elegance to the way he held himself. He made his way down the stairs in a brisk walk, a long gun raised with a straight arm as his finger squeezed the trigger again.

Elena dropped to the ground and fired until she ran out of ammo, not landing a hit. Finally, she caught on. Scrambling to her feet and sprinting, she shouted, "They're immune to bullets!"

"Shit!"

That may have been the first time Reno had ever heard Tseng sound so hopeless and angry.

The running continued, and it was soon apparent that this chase wasn't going to end well. Tseng and Elena ducked out at the floor Rufus was at to protect him, leaving two Turks against the two intruders.

The one with shorter hair sensed his brother's presence and suddenly spun around, running back up to the other two, giggling madly. Reno panicked and put one arm over his stomach, using the other to switch on his EMR to counter. Rude turned to see the other coming at him, gun discarded in favor of fighting with well-toned legs hidden beneath a leather cloak.

"Where's Mother?"

"Will one of you please tell me what's going on?" Rufus snapped, watching as Tseng shut off the alarm and Elena began going through drawers of weapons in the Turk office, her wounded arm in a tight bandage.

"We don't know, Sir," Tseng said quickly, grabbing a mag rod that Elena offered, also taking a knife.

"You're telling me that someone broke in and you have no idea how, why, or who they are?"

"Correct," Tseng said quickly, stashing the knife on his belt and helping Elena lock up the weapon drawers. "Reno and Rude are handling them."

"Them?" Rufus asked slowly, feeling something roar in his chest. "You're saying there's more than one?"

Tseng gave a slight nod, but his response was cut off as the door opened and Reno and Rude came through, Reno nursing a broken wrist and a very bloody wound on his stomach. Rude had a split lip, but seemed to be in considerably better shape than Reno.

"They're gone," he clipped, not paying any mind as Reno began looking for the first aid kit.

"Where did they go?" Elena asked, her voice rushed. "We need to go after them."

"Dunno," Reno muttered, unbuttoning his uniform to get a look at the sword wound that spanned across his stomach. He began to clean it up, pressing and wrapping gauze bandages onto it. "Once we said their Ma wasn't here, they kinda… vanished. Didn't run away. They just disappeared, yo."

Three sets of eyes went straight to Rude, silently asking for validity of Reno's story. The man gave a nod, readjusting his sunglasses. The eyes went back to Reno, who was finishing up his wrapping. He just shrugged, popping his nose into place with a hiss of pain before he began dabbing at the blood.

"We have to relocate."

The words were ones of absolute truth, and not a soul spoke up to argue as soon as they left Rufus Shinra's tired lips. Eyes found no similar target, as they were all looking between each other now. The storm was still going, but it had calmed down enough for them to begin getting ready to leave.

"And where are we going go?" Elena murmured, frowning slightly at him. "The Shinra Corporation-"

"Follows me wherever I am," Rufus finished bitterly. He sighed, running tired fingers through his hair. "There's a lodge in Healin," he began, his voice dropping an octave. "We'll go there. It's out of the city. We can stay low for a while, until we get enough strength to get back on our feet."

Somber nods were the only reaction, but his next words were what got the stares.

"We'll all have to move there. Away from our homes."

"But, Sir!" Reno interjected, scrambling for a defense. He looked helplessly to Rude, who gave him a miniscule shake of the head. His eyes settled on Elena with a bit of relief as she spoke her own two cents.

"Sir, you can't leave your home. All of your medication is there, and all of the renovations! And Dark Nation!"

"Pill bottles and guard hounds can be moved," he deadpanned, taking the blanket off of his lap and pulling it over his head as they began to move for the door, his thin fingers tilting the stick on his chair. "It's for safety."

With that, the conversation was closed.

They made their way out to their cars, umbrellas brandished as if they were going to war. Reno rode with Rude and Rufus again, buckling up in his spot in the back this time. He had a bag of their wet clothes on his lap, resorting to staring out the window as silence bloomed in the car. The rain was still heavy, but it wasn't going sideways anymore. That was a good sign.

After Rufus and Reno had settled inside and Rude had left, Reno made a beeline for the kitchen to get Rufus' medication and some for his own injuries. Rufus just stayed in his chair in the entryway, slowly unwrapping his hand and staring at it. The wet blanket was still over him like a cloak, but he didn't make any movement to take it off. He just sat there, staring at the markings that had grown since this morning. His arm was covered past his sleeve, the pain like flames that licked up to his neck. He wanted to see how bad the damage was, but he didn't want to know. Maybe it would be gone tomorrow. Maybe it was effects of the blood-thinning medication he was on, making him bruise like an over-sensitive peach. He didn't understand why it hurt so much, these bruises, but he wasn't going to ask. He wouldn't mention it at all. After all, that was how Rufus Shinra dealt with everything.

Not mentioning it.

He would never confess to the immense relief he felt when Reno had found him after the explosion. He wouldn't come to terms with the way his heart seemed to choke him every day when Reno helped him undress for his bath, only to redress again. He wouldn't talk about the sick pride he had in the way his drunken self had nearly succeeded in seducing Reno. And he would never even dream of admitting to the urge he had to get him in bed again.

The thought of him being sexually interested in one of his Turks honestly made him a little sick to his stomach, especially considering that Reno was a male and Rufus had gone through his life believing that he was perfectly straight. Maybe he was just confused. After all, he did hold quite the soft spot for redheaded women and Reno had… well, not much of a feminine figure, but he did have nice hips.

Rufus' fingers began to rub the bridge of his nose and he groaned. How the hell was he attracted to a class idiot like Reno? To a man who grew up in the slums and found fun in getting shitfaced at bars and playing darts?

"Is something wrong?" Reno called from the kitchen, washing the blood from his nose in the sink.

"Everything," Rufus muttered, far too quietly for Reno to hear.