"Reno!"
Cloud was over-joyed to see his Turk sister. Absolutely overjoyed. So overjoyed, in fact, that he elbowed Genesis in the stomach to get away just to hug him, not minding at all that he was stepping on the beaten man.
Reno was just as happy to grab the blond and swing him around. He wasn't ignorant to the glares he got from Genesis and Angeal, but really, what did it matter? Cloud probably had them wrapped around his finger already.
When Cloud pulled away to beam up at the redhead, he asked, "Not that it's not great to see you, but why are you here? I thought you'd be in Midgar."
"Ah, yeah. I should be. But I wanted to see you, so I came here," Reno shrugged. "I saw that guy here and wanted to warn you before you ran into him, but I just got back into town from a quick run to Midgar. Sorry about that."
"It's cool. Very theraputic," Cloud assured him. "Won't you get in trouble for coming to see me?"
"Nope, Tseng ordered me to come and wait for your prisoner. The guy claiming to be a Turk. He's here, by the way. Somewhere. Rude is too," Reno added.
"Great, can't wait to say hi," Cloud smiled.
"Excuse me," Sephiroth said politely. "But... What the hell?"
"Oh, right," Cloud seemed to remember that he was standing on someone but he didn't move. "Explanations. Well, that's Melanie, the girl I met earlier. I had lunch with her and well, you can see the bruises. That alone pissed me off, so if I ran into the guy that did it I was gonna do something about it."
"And then you saw who it was?" Reno asked.
"And then I saw who it was," Cloud confirmed. "Us two have history."
"H-how do you know him?" Melanie asked, still looking fearful.
"Wait. Wait. You're my age. Ish. You're pregnant, aren't you?" Cloud blurted out. Melanie's eyes widened and she didn't speak, giving them all the answer they needed.
"What?" the man beneath Cloud asked stupidly. He went from confused to angry in the flip of a switch though and threw Cloud off. He launched himself at her and she just cringed back.
Reno slapped his outstretched arms away with his nightstick while Genesis got a firm grip on him to haul him away from the girl. Sephiroth carefully caught the off-balance Cloud and steadied him.
"Wait, I get it," Angeal said suddenly. "Cloud, he's your father, isn't he?"
"Don't use that word," Cloud spat darkly. "As far as I'm concerned, he's a sperm donor."
"What?" Melanie asked weakly.
"Let's go back to the room," Zack urged. He glanced around and saw the attention the were attracting and got anxious. They all agreed with them once they saw the crowd too.
-o-o-
Reno led them to his room and inside were the other Turks. Tseng greeted the SOLDIERs and Cloud warmly and the ex-SOLDIERs a little less than so. Rude had a polite greeting for each of them.
"So, Genesis is holding Cloud's-"
"Sperm donor."
"Sperm donor and this lovely lady is his new wife that's pregnant with his child," Reno explained to the other Turks. They barely batted an eye.
"The transport is for Valentine. He can be put in local army custody and picked up later. We can't do anything for her."
"That's fine," Cloud answered before Reno could argue. He turned to Zack and Sephiroth. "I'm going to go check on Tifa in the rooms. I'll see you later."
He had opened the door and was just crossing the frame when he turned back for Melanie, "Did you want to come? It'll be a lot better than sticking around with a room full of guys. We can talk."
"Okay," she said quietly and followed him out, closing the door behind them.
"How did you two meet?" Cloud asked as they walked down the hall.
"He lived in Rocket Town for years and when I turned legal, he... Well I guess it would be called dating. He was really charming but when we got married..." she trailed off. "I guess people change."
"Not really," Cloud remarked bitterly. "He was a good guy to my mom until he found out she was pregnant. He was a pretty dead-beat dad to me."
At their door, Cloud knocked on it when he realized he didn't have a key. Tifa answered almost immediately with a cheerful, "Hi!"
"Hey, Tifa. Came to check in on you," Cloud explained, ignoring her curious look at the woman behind him.
"I'm fine, uh... Tifa Lockheart," she offered Melanie, holding out her hand. Melanie took it and smiled hesistantly.
"I'm Melanie Hart," she introduced. "Um, I think I'm related to Cloud somehow."
"Oh?" she asked in surprise. "How?"
"My bastard dad married her. So she's my... step-mother? Nevermind, I'm not calling someone a couple years older than me my step-mom, no offense."
"None taken," she assured him. "I'm pregnant, so Cloud's gonna have a little half-brother or half-sister."
"Oh," Tifa remarked in surprise. "Where is he then? Your, uh, husband."
"The others have him," Melanie said, frowning.
"Seph and the others," Cloud clarified and then smiled. "And Reno too!"
"Reno?" Tifa asked. "Your Turk friend, right?"
"Yeah, you've got to meet him! But... later."
"Okay," Tifa agreed. "Er... Did you two want to come in?"
"No, we're gonna go get something to eat. Do you want to come?" Cloud decided for them.
"Ah, no," she said. "You two should talk. It's gotta be at least slightly awkward..."
They both just stared at her.
-o-o-
"...and that's about it," Cloud finished and sipped his drink. He looked across the table at the mother of his soon to be half-sibling. "How are you taking this?"
"Honestly?" she asked, toying with her straw. "I'm so... Confused by this whole thing. It's too complicated. I don't know what to do."
"You could go home if you want," Cloud offered.
"No, I have to go to Midgar at least," she explained. "A family friend is there. He used to work for Shinra - the space program - and he's petitioning for it to be restarted."
"That's so cool," Cloud enthused. "It'd be so cool to go into space."
"Yeah, he's never happy unless he's in the sky," she smiled. "But I promised I'd meet up with him when I got there. He must be worried; we were delayed for a bit."
"When we get in Migdar, I'll help you look him up, okay?" Cloud offered.
"Oh no, it's fine. You must be awfully busy with your work in Shinra," she hurriedly declined.
"I'll be resting up in preparation, probably," Cloud explained, hoping it was true. As much as he liked the sparring sessions he got in, they quickly tired him out. "So I'll have time. I don't want to leave too much idle time in case I succumb to the nerves."
"That makes sense," she smiled. "I have my own way into the city, but I'll try and find you when I get there, okay?"
"Sounds good," Cloud smiled. "Here's how you can find me..."
-o-o-
That night saw Reno and Cloud in an arguement with seemingly the whole town.
"There's nothing wrong with us sleeping together," Reno snarled at the Innkeeper.
"Sir, we have a policy," the man tried to point out.
"Fuck that!" Reno said distastfully. "We're not going to do anything, that'd be nasty. I just missed the kid, that's all."
"Come on, it's completely innocent," Cloud insisted, clinging to Reno as the other SOLDIERs tried to persuade him from his plan.
"Cloud, you can see him in Midgar," Sephiroth pointed out, reaching out to claim his unruly cadet. Cloud just turned his face up and gave them the most heartbroken pout they'd ever seen. Sephiroth recoiled and (later denying it) turned a slight pink.
"Reno," Cloud whined, looking up to his 'sister' with a different pout. "Shinra trucks are equiped with tents, let's just go camping."
Reno brightened at that idea and they both dashed out the door even as Angeal and Tseng called for their return. Reno grabbed the portible tent and easily jogged to catch up with Cloud. They both made it to the outskirts of the town and slightly beyond before Cloud was satisfied.
They puzzled over it for a bit but with Cloud's training, they managed to construct the tent perfectly. Finished, they gave eachother high fives and crawled inside. There was just enough room for the both of them if they huddled together, which of course they intended to do.
"I'm glad Midgar's so mild," Cloud yawned, resting his head on his arms. He was lying on his stomach with Reno lying on his side, facing him.
"Mm? Why's that, Puppybo?"
"Otherwise we'd be cold," Cloud explained, letting out a long contented sigh. "Mm, 'night Reno. I missed you."
"G'night, kid. I missed you too," Reno smiled and closed his eyes, almost asleep...
A quiet tapping on one of the metal support rods snapped him back. He looked to see Cloud still asleep and let out a long sigh. He wiggled away from the blonde and slipped out of the tent. He zipped it up and turned to face...
"What the hell are you doing out here?" Reno asked, slightly dumbfounded.
"Just came to chat. Have some time now that Cloud's back?"
"Uh... sure."
-o-o-
Reno had to admit, this was the most awkward situation he'd ever been in.
His boyfriend was a little ways away, probably sleeping peacefully. His Puppybo was snoozing in the tent behind him, completely trusting Reno.
And here he was, sitting with another man and (in the back of his head) comparing him to his lover. The bad thing was, not everything was bad.
"So what do you want, V.P.?" Reno asked, not looking at him directly. He crouched down in the dirt, not minding his suit being sullied. Rufus chose to stay standing.
"Just to talk."
"About what?"
"About life," he answered easily. "About the world as we know it and the future."
"Yeah?" Reno snorted. "Too philosphical for my blood."
"Well we'll never know until we try," Rufus shrugged. "And you're part of it, so you can't back out."
"Really?" Reno asked sarcastically. He never, not even for a second, expected to be given a choice.
"Well, we'll stick with our problem for right now," Rufus amended.
"We have a problem?"
"Our last encounter alone. The entire thing was a wreck."
"Really?" Reno sniped again. "Seemed to go smashingly on my end."
Rufus grimaced and sighed. "I feel as if I should tell you that once upon a time, Tseng and I were lovers."
Reno openly gaped at the young man.
"We were," he defended. "But things got busy and we drifted apart. Now I come to find that he's already stolen the one I want from me."
Reno wasn't quite sure what to say to such a statement so he remained quiet.
"We can talk to him later about it, but I'd like to ask if you'd be willing to be shared. He can have you some days, I the others."
Reno's slightly fluttering heart abruptly stopped and his expression soured instantly.
"I know this is hard for you to understand," Reno spoke slowly as if to a child that wasn't quite getting their lesson. "But I'm a person. I'm a Turk. As much as you think so, we are not your toys."
"I never-"
"You just told me that I'd be shared, like a posession. You'd make up a pretty little schedule like I'm a communial fuck."
"That's not what I-"
"Just... go. Talk to Tseng and maybe he can make me feel better about you, because clearly you can't do it on your own. I'm just angrier than ever now. Thank you."
Without giving him time to respond, Reno retreated inside the tent and angrily zipped it up. He layed down and glanced at Cloud, not really surprised to see bright blue eyes heavy with sleep and concern.
"You okay?" he whispered.
"Yeah," Reno bit back shortly. He laid down and closed his eyes. Cloud wondered if he knew that he was crying. Deciding not to mention it, he just rested his head on the redhead's chest.
-o-o-
Well happy St. Valentine's Day to all of you. Isn't this just the cheeriest thing you've ever read? Blame my Playlist, it's chock full of angsty music.
Anyway, sorry for the delay. We're a handful of chapters away from being completely finished.
AND! Check out the oneshot I posted! It's CxS.