A Day in the Life

by jenepeuxpaslecroire

The purpose of these drabbles is to use Reno to show what it means to be a Turk, to work for Shinra, and the relationship the Turks have with other departments/groups--ie. SOLDIER, AVALANCHE, Research, Administration, civilians, etc.

23. Chapter 23 : Crisis Core

A Day in the Life

Collection of drabbles.

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AN: You could say this one follows part 9, which follows 16, I guess.

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The wind was harsher than the young Turk was used to, especially under the plate. The pollution was thick and he could smell the ever-present mako saturation that threatened to crawl under his skin, if it hadn't already breached his body. It was sickening and caused him to take a deep breath, sorely tempted to wretch right there on the spot. But, he hardly anticipated the girl welcoming him inside her beat-up citadel if she'd seen that display. His feet refused to take the last few steps that would lead him to the door. It was already late in the evening and he wanted to use that as an excuse to turn around and leave. Tseng had been called to Junon earlier in the evening before Reno could protest being awarded the dubious pleasure of calling on Aerith. He didn't know which part made him want to gag more—the smell, or the fact that he was being used as a messenger.

Reno never was good at announcing obituaries.

He wasn't nervous, nor was he afraid to face the young girl. In fact, his unease, he would later admit, had nothing to do with her at all. He knew once he stepped inside the church and saw her standing amidst the flowers, he would never be able to look back again. The bigger picture he had been waiting to see was staring him in the face, and he was unwilling to embrace it. He was unwilling to admit it was there.

Zack was dead.

His left hand gripped the small package tightly as he tried to ignore the blatantly obvious. He was being asked to turn a blind eye, to accept that the SEC was more than what even most SOLDIERs and Turks were aware of. A part of him was reluctant to follow their lead, but he knew he was in too deep to turn back now.

If he closed his eyes, he knew he would never be able to dispel the image that greeted him at the hilltop outside Midgar. He didn't want to admit that if it hadn't been them, he would have been the one to do it. He was focused more on the fact of what it implicated.

Shinra was collapsing in on itself.

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to be continued.