Authoress' Notes:

Well, remember how I'd mentioned that I had some more story waiting to be posted?

Yah, this is it. I was waiting to post this, but I'm leaving for a week in Florida on Saturday (I can't wait!), so I figured I might as well post now.

Hopefully, I'll get some more written soon (I'm trying!), but for now, just expect the next update to take a while longer, and please be patient with me. Thank you to everyone who's been with me so far! Your reviews really make me feel loved!

I'm introducing a secondary couple in here: Rufus/Cloud. I'm turning Rufus into a slightly more humorous character, but that's mostly because I think he's funnier than we see in the canon.

Disclaimer: I dun own anything!

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Better

"So," Tseng concluded, "it looks like, somehow, someone managed to attack him through this dream. We're not entirely sure who it was, but-"

"Sephiroth," Cloud interjected from where he leaned against the wall by the door. Tseng fell silent, looking at Cloud, who, uncharacteristically, spoke again. "It was Sephiroth."

Rufus frowned. Sephiroth? But… how? Hadn't the freak died already? Anyways, though Rufus knew he should be focused on more important things right now, something was bothering him. It had been subtle, but he'd noticed it. Every time Cloud said Sephiroth's name, his tone was transformed to one of near-reverence for his former lover. Rufus had never really been sure why he noticed it, but he always had… and it had always bothered him.

"President?" Rufus shook his head as Tseng got his attention. He looked up, glanced in Cloud's direction and felt a slight blush creep onto his face. Feeling incredibly grateful for the sheet that covered him, Rufus spoke.

"I suppose we'll have to increase security, Tseng," he said, voice even. "Knowing you, you'll be looking into this on your own, right Cloud? Be sure to keep me posted." Rufus smirked slightly as Cloud's expression darkened. Clearly, Cloud didn't like the implication that Rufus was in charge, but in this case he had no choice. Well, he might think that he did, but, Rufus thought smugly to himself, Cloud was sadly mistaken.

Cloud turned and silently left. Rufus exhaled loudly. Ignoring Tseng's questioning look, Rufus shook his head. Able to keep neither the little smile nor the faint blush off of his face, Rufus turned back to his paperwork.

--

Reno growled in frustration. He'd been wandering about since stumbling away from Yazoo, over three hours earlier, and he still didn't know what to do. Kicking yet another door open, not really caring where he was, Reno stepped over the threshold and realized that his feet had carried him into a very bad place to be.

Rufus Shinra looked up irritably from his desk. The sheet, normally draped over his head, lay instead on his shoulders.

"Reno?" he asked, annoyed and a little confused. Reno stood still, unsure of what to say.

"Reno, explain yourself," Rufus ordered. "If you're going to kick my door open and barge into my office, at least please tell me that you have a reason for it?" Rufus rolled his eyes as Reno shook his head silently, backing out.

"Reno," the blonde's stern voice called from within the room, "get back in here."

With a sigh of defeat, Reno shuffled back in. "What?" he whined. Damn, yo, it felt good to be immature!

"Reno, what's going on? You're supposed to be with Yazoo. I know you two don't feel like getting along, but at some point you've just got to grit your teeth and do it."

"Do it"? Reno thought, wincing slightly. Is Rufus trying to mess with my head? Out loud, he said, "I don't think it's a good idea right now, Rufus."

Rufus beckoned Reno to come sit in the chair in front of his desk, but he leaned back, wrinkling his nose as Reno sat. "Reno! How much did you have to drink?"

Reno let out a bizarre laugh. It was as though half of him was genuinely amused at Rufus' question, and half of him was disgusted with himself. "How much did I have to drink?" he asked, half to himself. "Far too much and nowhere near enough, Rufus," he said. Rufus looked puzzled.

"Reno," he asked again, "why aren't you with Yazoo? He's been behaving himself, but he is our prisoner. You need to keep an eye on him."

Reno snorted, beginning to get fed up with Rufus' stupidity. Could the man never simply take a hint? Okay, if Rufus really wanted to know… "Well, Rufus, judging from the fact that I nearly raped the guy a couple of hours ago, I'd tend to say that others might be better suited for the job than I, yo." Rufus' eyes widened.

"You… you WHAT?" Rufus sputtered in disbelief. "Did you… did you just say that you…" Reno nodded.

Rufus groaned. "Reno… how drunk were you?"

Reno scowled. "I told you. I was too drunk, and I wasn't nearly drunk enough." He paused, thinking.

Rufus shook his head. "Look, Reno, I don't care what you say, you aren't allowed to get drunk on the job. You know that- Gaia knows I've told you plenty of times." Reno twitched.

"Look, Rufus, you put me into this mess, yo!" Rufus recoiled a little, surprised at the venom in Reno's sudden response. "I'm upset, I hate this guy to pieces, and yet all I can ever think about is how unbelievably hot he is. So yes. I did drink. What else am I supposed to do, yo? I sure as hell can't talk to Rude about it!" By now, Reno was on his feet, shaking. Furious tears swam in his eyes. "Trust me, Rufus, I'm as pissed at myself as you are for doing what I did, but I'm barely making it without Rude as it is, yo!" Reno turned and stormed out of the room. A moment after the door slammed shut, Rufus heard what sounded like someone kicking the wall, cursing loudly.

Rufus put his face in his hands, groaning in frustration. Meticulous as he usually was in planning, Rufus had never even considered this kind of an outcome for his assignment. He'd just meant to force Reno to come to terms with the fact that Rude… Rufus felt his throat tighten, and hastily cast that thought aside. He'd never imagined, though, that Reno might end up being attracted to the prisoner. How had he ever gotten into this mess?

He sighed as the phone rang, and picked up. "Rufus Shinra," he answered it, voice calm and professional.

"Sir," Tseng's voice answered him from the other end of the line, "Strife just got here."

Rufus facepalmed silently. He'd completely forgotten about that! Cloud was, grudgingly, coming in to tell Rufus what he'd found in the past few hours- who knew the other blonde could be so creepily efficient? Rufus smiled slightly. Must be a blonde trait, he thought wryly.

Out loud, though, he said, "Thank you, Tseng. Send him in." Hanging up, Rufus sighed. How in the world was he going to deal with the problem Reno had just revealed to him? After all, Yazoo needed to be guarded, being a prisoner, but it sounded like Reno had to be kept as far away from him as possible. Whom could he assign to take over the task of watching Yazoo, though? The other Turks were all on duty, and he couldn't think of anyone other than a Turk he'd trust with such an important prisoner…

A knock at his door startled Rufus out of his reverie. "Come in," he called. He only realized that his face was still uncovered as Cloud stepped into the room.

"Not hiding today?" Cloud asked in a deadpan. Rufus shook his head. Cloud tilted his head quizzically. Rufus could have sworn he nearly had a monumental nosebleed. Dammit, why must Cloud seem so cute?

Rufus sighed. "I'm sorry Cloud," he said, proud of how steady his voice was, "I've just got a lot to think about right now."

Both men were surprised at the next words out of Cloud's mouth. "Like what?" Rufus could have sworn that he saw the slightest hint of pink on the other man's cheeks, but that could have just been his imagination.

Still, Rufus figured he might as well be courteous. Gesturing to the vacant chair, he said, "Let's just say that putting Reno on guard duty may not have been the smartest of ideas."

Cloud nodded slightly, sitting down. "I suppose that has something to do with why Reno stormed past me on my way up here, totally smashed?"

Rufus sighed. "Hung over, actually."

Cloud shifted slightly. "Not very good company discipline, is it?"

Rufus groaned slightly. Dammit Reno, he thought grumpily, are you trying to make me look bad? "Well," he replied tersely, "have you ever tried to keep Reno from drinking when he's pissed? It's like… it's like trying to make you smile or something!"

Cloud looked at Rufus for a long moment. Rufus, growing uncomfortable, looked down at his hands, resting on his desk- though at the moment, they were shaking a little too much for his liking. Ok, Cloud was in such trouble. Nobody made Rufus Shinra's hands shake with nervousness and got away with it!

All thought of revenge, however, left Rufus' mind as Cloud leaned forward. Rufus looked up at him. "Like making me smile, you say?" Cloud asked. Rufus felt his stomach flutter as those perfect lips curved upwards into a gentle smile. "Can't be all that hard, then." Rufus, blushing furiously, leaned back in his chair.

"Well, I guess I've seen Hell freeze over, haven't I? In any case, Strife, didn't you call to say you'd found something?"

Sitting back, Cloud let his smile vanish. "Yes," he said. "I'm not entirely sure what I saw, though. I…" Rufus was surprised when Cloud took a deep breath, hesitating. "I was in the Sleeping Forest, and I was taking a shortcut through a darker area. I walked past a tree, and I… I saw him."

Rufus frowned. "Whom did you see? Surely you can't mean Sephiroth?"

Cloud nodded. "As soon as he saw me, he… um, he got out of there pretty fast," Cloud finished in a hurry, blushing. At Rufus' arched eyebrow, Cloud sighed. "Ok, so he might have said that I would always be his… his pet and tried to kiss me… and um… grope me."

Rufus opened his mouth, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to say.

Cloud waved a hand dismissively, still blushing. "I know, I know. Point is, it looks like he isn't just in Yazoo's dreams."

"But… how?" Rufus asked.

Cloud shrugged. "I'm trying to find the other two. They might have had something to do with it."

He stood to leave. Rufus nodded politely. "Thank you, Cloud," he said quietly. He blushed again as he met Cloud's eyes, and why oh why were his eyes so cruel to him, because there was no way there had been a tiny smirk on Cloud's face for a second.

Cloud's face was blank as he nodded back. "I'll phone in the verdict," he said, leaving the room.

Rufus groaned yet again, running his hands through his normally perfect hair. Damn hormones, he thought. Why, oh why am I this stupid?

--

Yazoo looked down nervously. He didn't know why, but his hands kept playing with his hair, as though they had a life of their own.

"Ok," Reno said, hating every moment of this. "I can't believe I'm saying this, especially to you, of all people, but… I'm really sorry for… for earlier. I…" He shook his head.

Yazoo looked up at the other man. Something (maybe it was the cut on his throat, maybe the bruises all over his body) told Yazoo that Reno was bad for his wellbeing, but somehow he didn't mind the redhead nearly as much as he should have. That scared him.

Reno tentatively moved back to his chair. Yazoo thought it was odd that this now seemed normal to him. He'd felt a little uneasy without the redhead at his side.

Reno looked up at Yazoo. Yazoo gave him a tiny smile.

Reno felt a little better.

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Tell me if you think Rufus is too OOC, and I'll try to work on it. As I said, the next update may take a while, but I'll do my best!

Please review!