Blood
"Tseng!" Reno shouts, echoing through the alley in a sudden state of alarm when he realizes that something threatening has just happened.
So fast, it occurred, that he leaned toward his boss in a way that triggered some kind of insane emotion and I fired out of a sheer fit of hatred for the man. But at the last moment, Tseng saw it coming and pulled the redhead's gun from his holster just as quickly as he pushed Reno out of the way and put himself in the line of fire.
He knew what he was doing, leaving me with no doubt from the look in his eyes that I saw for only a brief moment before it was burned into my mind when he fired a shot back at me and grazed my arm. Maybe it was meant as a warning instead of an actual desire to wound me, but unfortunately my intention wasn't the same.
"Shit!"
It was at that moment after Tseng hit the floor and Reno grabbed his gun back that it finally sunk in that I had done what I feared doing most. And I stood there as if frozen, thinking of the visions of Tseng in the snow—the fact that my gun was still warm and I kept my aim at the room they were in as Reno quickly checked Tseng's pulse and knowingly kept his vital organs out of my line of sight.
There is no snow though, I try to tell myself, in a weak attempt to convince myself that this is nothing like the vision I kept seeing.
But then again, how often do visions happen exactly as they're seen?
And not once did I realize that Cloud was standing beside me, perhaps the whole time, and he's calling out, "Cure," to heal the wound that Tseng rightfully inflicted on me before all hell breaks loose.
I suppose I should have expected repercussions though, even if I didn't mess up as badly as I could have. And I only stand there, still frozen and barely even noticing the sharp pain as the cure spell that Cloud called out does its harrowing magic.
After all, I'm not so sure that I deserve to get away with this one without some form of punishment and I only watch, waiting, as Reno jumps through the window, cutting his arms on the shards of glass that he doesn't seem concerned about and Cloud does all that he can do to divert him, not knowing why but probably guessing that I had a good reason for trying to kill the Turk while it looks like Reno is attempting to repay me for my actions.
Yet if Cloud only knew what it was all over, he might not have been so eager to help.
Not that it matters though, because all I can really think about once I snap out of my state of denial is getting to Tseng as fast as I can while the other two do what they do best, oddly managing to never really hurt each other while acting like they want to. But unfortunately, thanks to Reno's attentiveness and skill, he manages to get Cloud out of his way long enough to hit me with what I think is a level three bolt and I let out an excruciating growl from the full body sensation before the last thing that I wanted to happen happens.
Chaos…
I don't think I'll ever get used to it or even learn to like it as it ravishes my higher senses and stops me from doing what I want to be doing and what I need to be doing. It takes over, curing me from all of my injuries more effectively than a cure spell could ever do and takes away every ounce of control and self-awareness as the cost.
Maybe it's my rightful penance, and maybe it's my own fault that nothing ever goes the way I'd like it to and everything that happens from that point on is nothing more than fragments of things that could have happened, probably did happen or didn't happen while Reno and I, or more accurately, Chaos, fight to get to Tseng first, and Cloud manages to put himself in the middle where he does more damage to the cause than good for a change.
Not once does it occur to me that Chaos seems to share my concern for the Turk who's left unattended far longer than he should have been—almost like it cares—and not once does it occur to me that the only damage it's causing is to those that are standing in its way, seeing neither as friend nor foe.
They're only obstacles as inopportune memories about my days back in an older Nibelheim hit me harder than any weapon or materia that Reno or Cloud can hit me with. It's all Cloud needs to take advantage of the situation when it causes Chaos to waver when I scream through its voice and cause it to fall to its knees over the fact that I don't think I can deal with any of it anymore.
Why the memories hit me so hard and bother me so much all the sudden though, I don't know…
All I really do know is that I've never felt more betrayed by Lucrecia than I suddenly do and I have no idea why I'm suddenly feeling that way now—she took away everything…
And I'm still the one that's apologizing.
"Lucrecia…" I weekly grunt after Cloud manages to throw some kind of powder at me… dream powder, I think… "Why…?"
"Huh?"
"Just stop, Reno… for now… and tell me what the hell is going on!"
"Yer friend's a psycho," I hear Reno muttering, "jus like you an all yer other friends!"
Then I hear the sound of familiar Turk shoes, hard rubber hitting cobblestone in quick paces like the son of a bitch is running. And around the same time I feel someone rubbing at my shoulder and attempting to help me up while muttering, "Takes one to know one…" before he says, "Ensuna," to remove the effects of the dream powder.
Then he kneels back to give me more room and asks, "Vincent… You okay?"
I completely ignore the question though and I wind up pushing Cloud out of the way so I can run after Reno in an attempt to beat him to his destination and without intentionally meaning to, I wind up in front of him like a flash of lightening—another side-effect from Lucrecia's work that causes me to move almost as if I'm in a temporal plane at times and it gives me the opportunity to fire a shot behind me in an attempt to stop Reno from getting in my way.
But Cloud manages to protect him—for whatever reason—while the redhead stands there looking stunned for a moment and I fall into a pool of Tseng's blood after falling weak at the knees when I realize that the enigmatic leader of the Turks is nowhere in sight and Reno dumbly yells out, "Where the hell is he?" before he slips on the man's blood and falls beside me.
"You're lucky. Any normal person would have died… But you're not normal… Are you?"
"Enhanced…"
"Soldier… Right?"
"Yes… You're…?"
"Tseng. I was assigned to meet up with you in Modeoheim. But obviously something went wrong."
"I guess you're lucky I was here to protect you then."
"Hardly… You're the one that requires medical attention…"
"I heal quickly."
"Very well. Get up then…"
"Wha—?" I stammer, and I grimace as I cover my forehead with my hand as if I can hang onto whatever just happened long enough to make sense out of it.
"What the hell was that?" Reno asks
"What the hell was what?" Cloud repeats as he looks at me and Reno in confusion, both of us kneeling in Tseng's blood while the redhead suspiciously looks at me and I return the look without hiding any of the undying contempt that I feel for the miserable little parasite. Mostly because the thought strikes me that not only am I suspecting that he just had the same vision because of what he just yelled out, but he's also close enough to strangle.
But I manage to hold off long enough for Reno to dishonestly mutter, "Nothin," to Cloud.
"You're lying," I accuse, and I study him for any sign of a deviant expression that will back up my statement, "You heard it too."
"Heard what?" the little bastard coyly asks as if he's suddenly baiting me for his own amusement and Cloud falls quiet from a dumbfounded bemusement over the fact that he probably has even less of an idea over what's going on than he originally thought he did.
"What do you know about it?"
"Know about what?" he demands as if I'm starting to piss him off before he gives himself away and smirks at me like he knows exactly what I'm accusing him of. Then he suddenly spits out that, "None'a this would'a happened if ya would'a jus left him alone!" as if it's about the best he can come up with to change the topic.
And instead of me doing the strangling, Reno manages to beat me to the punch long enough to take me off guard and jump on me to try to wring the non-existent life out of me while I choke through the constriction of his surprisingly strong grasp that, "None of this would've happened if you stayed away…"
"Stayed the fuck away from what? He's my fuckin Boss, Asshole…! It's my fuckin job ta make sure he's all right and it ain't like ya were tryin yer best ta help 'im! Or is that what yer problem is…? That I got in yer fuckin way of tryin ta kill him?"
"You know what my problem is."
"No Man, I don't fuckin know what the fuck yer problem is! All I fuckin know is that ya've got somethin over him that he won't fuckin talk about!"
"You're an even bigger liar than he is…" I grumble back while I struggle with his wrists to get the filthy vagrant the hell off of me, "You know damn well what the hell is going on and that's why you were trying to kiss him!"
"Huh?" Reno nervously sputters out as if he's taken off guard. Then he loosens his hold long enough for me to dig the claws of my gauntlet into his throat before Cloud's sword meets my throat in an attempt to try to maintain the sanity that none of us have a hold on, and he demands, "Do either of you want to tell me what the hell is going on…? Or do I have to jump to the wrong conclusions on this one?"
Then he snorts as if he's suddenly amused and looks at Reno with his usual disapproving demeanour before emitting some type of body language that him and Reno seem to be at terms with, which causes Reno to jump back and scratch at the back of his neck while muttering, "I dunno what the fuck he's talkin 'bout, Man… He… Tseng had some kind'a weird mark on 'is neck… I grabbed him by the hair an—"
"You grabbed the Director of the Turks by the hair?" Cloud suspiciously asks and smirks as if he thinks this new direction is just too good to pass up. Then he eases up on me and stands back to let me get up while I guess that he's hoping we're both calm enough to give him whatever answers he thinks he deserves.
"Heh… N-no… I mean—I fuckin reached ta move his hair… So I could—"
"Kiss him?" Cloud mockingly finishes and smirks again as if he suddenly doesn't care as much about getting answers as he does about getting under one of his greatest rival's skin. In turn, it offers me the time I need to scurry along the floor of the room to try to find some kind of clue as to where the hell Tseng is while thanking whatever god exists that they both seem to have forgotten that I exist.
"Don't be a fuckin asshole, Man!" Reno shouts as I catch him tighten his grip around the EMR that he carries through the corner of my eye and I take note that even Tseng's belongings are gone.
Could he have cured himself? I wonder, and I take another look at the mess of his blood that we've streaked across the floor well enough to hide any evidence of what might have really happened. Then I take a look at the nightstand where I think his gloves were and I wonder why he would have chosen to vanish without a word, even to his co-worker while I overhear Reno explaining that, "The veins on his neck looked like they were—"
"He was poisoned," I mutter, cutting Reno off and regretting it the moment the words leave my mouth when the two of them suddenly remember that there's more to the story than mocking one another.
I'm also suddenly regretting the fact that Reno may be telling the truth while realizing that what I accusingly blurted out earlier will probably leave them both with more questions than I should have left them with.
Though I'm more concerned about the questions about Tseng than to myself as I briefly explain what happened back at the mansion before Koerin captured us and that there was still some discolouration left in the veins that the poison was traveling through.
And sure enough, the question of, "So… either Tseng lied 'bout bein alone… or… ya really are…"
"Trying to help him," I growl, hoping to cut off any speculation while thinking that it used to be so much easier when I just kept my mouth shut. Then I decide to do as Tseng does, despite whether I disapprove of it or not, and I lie, "He's been looking for answers."
"Yeah… I know. But he ain't havin no luck."
Neither am I, I think, before I catch a glimpse of Tseng's gloves under the bed at the opposite side as if they'd been tossed there and I hypnotically mumble, "He thought if he helped me… that I might be inclined to help him…"
"That why ya tried ta shoot me? Or should I say… him?" Reno sarcastically asks, making it obvious that he's not willing to be bought off with anything as simple as I was hoping for before he snickers that conniving snicker of his and leans in my direction while reprimanding, "Or is that jus the story yer hopin I'll believe so ya can get me outta yer hair long enough ta find out where the hell yer precious little—"
"Reno!" comes another voice from the shadows that makes everyone in the room cringe out of the lack of expectation before Reno's trusted partner emerges with his hands clasped in front of him. He carries a strict warning in his voice that borders on reason, reminding us that there are more pressing matters at hand than accusations that will get us nowhere.
Instead of responding to his partner though, I fall to a prone position so I can see more clearly under the bed while hoping that no one's going to question what I'm looking at since I have no patience at this point to wait for a more opportune moment.
"Yeah…" Reno mutters, "Ain't no point in disrespectin the Director…"
Then he smirks and looks at me through the corner of his suspicious eyes like he's silently telling me that he's more than willing to continue with the animosity when the timing is more appropriate.
"What happened?" the towering Turk asks while he slowly scans the room and ignores everyone and I try to reach for Tseng's gloves while grumbling that, "I don't have time for this."
"Really, Huh…?" Reno mocks, "So I guess ya ain't got no reason fer stickin 'round now that yer work is done."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I ask, suddenly irritated before I give up and decide that walking to the other side of the bed would accommodate me better while both Rude and Reno watch me like a couple of drooling Nibel wolves.
"It's supposed ta mean that ya managed ta distract me long enough fer yer little plan ta work, an now ya gotta go an make sure that it's still goin accordin ta plan…"
"What?" I ask while suddenly wondering why Tseng constantly tells me I'm crazy when his favourite Turk is obviously more nuts than I am.
"Good thing, huh…? Since ya were originally tryin ta get me outta yer way so ya could do Gaia-knows-what with whatever ya were plannin on doin with him…"
"Kjata…" I grumble as it suddenly strikes me that once I grab those gloves I'd better move fast to avoid whatever other concoction he's going to come up with. Of course, the fact that neither of them are asking me what I'm doing leads me to believe that they've silently decided to let me do all the work for them while they stand there and act like delusional morons.
"Um…" Cloud mumbles before taking another look around without bothering to hide his confusion like he normally does, and he asks, "Wouldn't that mean someone else was involved?"
"Exactly," I sarcastically agree while Rude points out that he's managed to put a few of the pieces of the puzzle together by deciphering from our cryptic bantering that something has happened to Tseng and that there's something more going on between me and Reno than meets the eye.
But none of that really explains why Cloud is here, and Rude's attention turns to him in question.
"I used to live here," Cloud answers to a question that was never asked while Rude quickly repeats, "Used to," as if to state that he shouldn't have to ask any questions that he views as obvious.
Cloud is quick to respond though, and he makes no effort to hide the irritation in his voice when he stares at Rude like he thinks he's an idiot and sarcastically asks him, "You never visit your home town?"
Then he shakes his head and motions his head to the direction of the mansion while I stand by Tseng's gloves and watch Reno as closely as he's watching me and cursing him for being so damn attentive.
And from there, Cloud mutters that he saw the flames from the mansion and figured he'd try to find out what happened, and then he saw me standing in the alley. At that point, he shrugs and doesn't bother to say much else except that I shot Tseng and Reno and I have been trying to kill each other since then, and that the best he's been able to figure out is that Reno kissed Tseng…
"I did'n fuckin kiss him!" Reno blurts out before making matters even worse by stating the obvious that no one's bothered to point out yet, even though I'm sure they might have been thinking it, "'Sides… doncha think it's kind'a odd that yer crazy friend would try ta kill me over somethin like that…? Maybe ya should be askin him what the fuck this is all over since he's the one that fuckin started all this by pullin the fuckin trigger!"
"Wait…" Rude patiently commands before he looks at both Reno and Cloud like there are some things that he doesn't have any patience for. Then Cloud smirks at Reno again while Reno sneers back when Rude turns his attention to me and comments that, "I find it hard to believe that this man shot –"
"Well, fuckin believe it, Man."
"All right…" Rude calmly says as if he's trying his best to ignore the more bizarre statements while he stares at me like he's waiting for an explanation that will make more sense.
All it does is frustrate me though, more than it put me on the spot, and I remind them all that there's another possibility in hopes of getting off the current topic that could possibly damage Tseng's credibility just as much as mine, "Koerin could have taken him."
"Na-na, Man… If Koerin were here, he would'a taken more'n jus one of us."
"Are you sure about that?" I challenge, and I silently debate over whether I should point out the fact that Tseng's gloves look like they were thrown under the bed, possibly out of his reach. But then again, it wouldn't explain why all of Tseng's belongings are missing too.
But instead of Reno answering the question, Rude answers, "Yes." Then he adjusts his glasses and clears his throat in a way that suggests he doesn't want to say what he says next but has to so that he can make sense out of the situation.
"Koerin knows he won't get anywhere with Tseng and he would have used us as leverage in hopes that it would get one of us to talk. In his eyes, Tseng isn't worth the effort if he's alone and it also wouldn't explain why Tseng's belongings are missing, if I understand that part correctly."
"It also would've been more ta his benefit ta take advantage of the fact that we were all distracted ta follow us instead'a makin us all paranoid—would make it easier for him ta trail us… He ain't stupid, an all this would do is cause us ta wanna trail him… that ain't the way he works…" Reno adds before he pauses for a moment and rethinks his assumptions, "'Course… it would make it easier ta get us if we walked into a trap…"
"One that we're expecting?" Rude asks, pointing out something he disagrees with and states that, "None of this makes sense."
"No shit."
"Who's Koerin?" Cloud finally asks, and he looks at both of them suspiciously before asking, "And what does he want with you guys?"
"Same thing any power-hungry nut wants…" Reno mutters. Then he looks at Rude like he's searching for some kind of approval over his answer and shrugs as if he suddenly doesn't really care, and adds, "Wants ta be yer new Shinra…"
"How's that a bad thing?"
"Trust me, Man…" Reno answers while Cloud looks at him like he thinks they deserve whatever trouble they've gotten themselves into this time, "It's a bad thing."
"For you, maybe…" Cloud trails off before he looks over to me and tilts his head like he's suddenly curious when I kneel beside the bed while thinking that we've wasted enough time, and naturally, he draws the Turks' attention back over to me as well, causing me to silently curse.
Though I have to admit that I'm growing less concerned with their suspicions when I already feel like we've wasted enough time as it is—if not too much—and I take advantage of the fact that they can't see what I'm doing as I carefully grab Tseng's gloves and inconspicuously tuck them into one of my buckles that are hidden by my cloak as I stand.
"Find somethin?"
"No," I answer, not wanting to give them a reason to be more suspicious of me than they already are as I lower my face into my mantle and mutter, "Just more of the same."
Then I catch myself staring at Tseng's blood with a growing concern over the fact that none of this would have happened if it wasn't for me, and that I can only hope I can make it all right.
"Mm," The dark man indifferently mutters, not really showing whether he believes me or not.
Then he takes a deep breath and steps farther into the light to share his own point of view.
"We're doing nothing but waste time," he says, and he studies the room again before setting his attention on me like he doesn't believe anything anyone has said so far. "Regardless of who did what, or even why… our main focus should be that we have a wounded Turk to find."
After that, he looks at Reno with a scolding look, nods at Cloud, and I take that as a sign that I can leave without repercussions now. But I might have underestimated the situation, along with the fact that they're both professional investigators and that I'm responsible for starting this whole mess by shooting their comrade.
Unfortunately, Rude points it out as he stands in my way and I remind myself not to make the situation any worse than it already is by not letting him stop me.
For the amount of time that he stands there and stares at me with no expression though, an eternity could have passed.
Of course, it only seems that way as he appears to be studying me with more scrutiny than he previously was, and I suddenly shrink back, wanting to hide further behind my hair and my mantel while I return his empty gaze like a cornered animal.
Then he looks back at Cloud and Reno as if he suddenly remembered something that I thought we'd agreed to forget, "You both say that this man shot Tseng?"
Maybe I'm not the only one taken off guard even though I shouldn't be, and it takes a moment for the question to register among the other two before they honestly answer him while he maintains the same look of doubt that he had before. Yet at the same time, I suppose it would be foolish, as Tseng likes to say, to believe that he wouldn't take his job seriously.
"Tseng was shot…" he muses and looks around again, focussing on the blood and making me cringe at the thought again, "And he's gone now…"
"Yeah…"
"Hm…"
After another thoughtful pause, Rude examines Cloud more closely before he turns his attention back to me and frowns. Then he decides that they can't let me out of their sight because I can't be trusted and Reno mentions that they can't take me with them for the same reason they can't let me out of their sight.
In the meantime, Cloud is still trying to figure out what the hell is going on in regard to this 'Koerin person…' and attempts to find out if there's anything he should know or could do to help, and someone stabs something into the centre of my upper back before I have the chance to react after hearing a quick thud that came from somewhere else in the room.
After that, the only curious thought that runs through my head as I slowly turn as if I have no control over my body is, how in the hell did Reno manage to move so fast?
Like lightening, he was, and he grins with that conniving grin of his and sticks his tongue between his teeth while no more than an inch away from my face. Then he waves something in front of me in an attempt to get my attention. It's a syringe, I think, now empty, and I attempt to clear my dimming vision while I feel myself sliding down before someone manages to support me from behind.
Strong hands have me before strong arms are around my waist to hold me up as his voice comes out like it's stressed from my weight and in slow motion…
"What should I do with him?"
"Hm… Guess we could do as we planned…"
"And Cloud?"
"Out like a light…"
Then I hear Reno snicker in slow motion, which sounds even more unscrupulous than it normally does as he moves out of the way to reveal Cloud on the floor, unconscious or dead… I don't know.
All I really do know is that I think I'm on my way to being just as unconscious as Cloud and I'm wondering how in the hell that little bastard managed to knock us both out without either of us seeing it coming, and Reno's voice trails off in my head, "Gotta move fast, Man… Tseng can't be allowed ta get too far or Rufus'll have our hides fer lettin 'im… Oh yeah… Grab the gloves… I think he tucked em inta one of his buckle-things…"
"You're bleeding…"
"I know… it's just a scratch…"
"No… It's more than a scratch… Let me see…"
…
