Two days of bed rest and Tseng was back at the office, favoring one arm but otherwise back to normal. When Reno walked into work the morning of his return, the redhead groaned audibly at the sight of his director. They hadn't exactly been slacking off without Tseng, but knowing the Wutaiian's rabid sense of duty and desire to protect Rufus, he would work them to the bone now.
Tseng frowned at Reno's groan, and Rude merely straightened his shades and shoved his partner into their office in an attempt to escape their boss's wrath. Nevertheless, twenty minutes later, Rude and Reno were locked in the observation room, going through every bit of video footage from the night of the gala.
"My eyes hurt," Reno complained after several hours, rubbing them hard.
"Just a little longer," Rude said, rewinding the tape a little. Reno leaned forward, squinting at the screen, where seas of people in formal wear were listening intently as Rufus spoke.
"Wait," Reno said, pointing, and Rude paused the tape. "Look at that dude." His thin finger was hovering over the face of a well-dressed man with slicked-back dark hair. "This is right before the shot was taken, right? Look at his eyes." Rude replayed the segment in slow motion and they both focused intently on the man. Sure enough, the man's eyes could just be seen flicking up to where the shooter had appeared moments later. "He knew," Reno muttered. He leaned in even closer, his ponytail falling over one shoulder and tickling Rude's fingers. The bald Turk resisted combing through the soft strands as they slipped over his hand and tried to focus on what Reno was saying, but all he could think about was the fiery hair he wanted to touch so badly.
"Rude?"
Rude started a little, looking at Reno. "What?"
"Didn't ya hear me?"
"What?" he said again. Reno regarded him with a raised brow.
"I asked if you could zoom in on our boy's face. You feelin' okay?"
Rude grunted and fiddled with the knobs and buttons, managing to zoom the picture in on the suspicious man's face, but it was grainy and warped. Reno called Tseng.
"Yo, boss man. We found a guy who looks like he could help us, but the picture's too shitty. Yeah, that works." He flipped the phone closed and turned to Rude. "Tseng says to let Snake take a look. He should be able to clear up the picture."
Rude nodded in agreement. Snake was a hacker and all-around technology buff that Shinra contracted when they encountered problems they couldn't solve on their own. Reno gave the hacker a call while Rude went to get coffee from the office, and by the time the bald man returned with three cups, Reno had been joined by a boy of no more than fifteen. Snake was thin and frail, with skin that was whiter than Reno's, shaggy black hair, and enormous green eyes that glittered luminously. He turned to greet Rude, his white lips quirking in a smile.
"It's been a while, Rude."
Rude nodded back, handing him and Reno cups of coffee and sipping from the third. Reno gulped half of his and then pointed to the screen.
"Can ya clean this up?"
Snake cocked his head, studying the picture, then hefted his bag of equipment onto the table and pulled out a mass of wires and tech. The only thing Rude recognized was a laptop computer, but Snake's clever fingers started flying and before long he had copied the tape's footage onto his computer. With silent fascination, Rude watched the boy work, his hands moving too quickly to follow, and in the space of minutes, Snake was sitting back, the picture of the man's face far clearer than had been before.
"You think your facial recognition can handle this?" Snake asked in his whispery voice, looking up at them through his dark bangs. Reno bent to look, thinking.
"That the best ya can do?"
Snake nodded.
"I think our machines can do it. Might come up with a couple different people, but we'll see." Reno reached into his blazer and pulled out an envelope. He handed it to Snake with a little grin. "You prob'ly know the drill by now, but…"
"Yeah, yeah," Snake said, sounding his age for the first time as he took the money. "Leak any of this and I'm dead as a doornail."
"You got it," Reno said cheerfully. "Enjoy. Thanks for the help, kid." Snake dropped a flash drive off in Reno's hand and gathered his equipment, slipping out of the room. "Let's get this to Tseng," Reno told Rude, waving the flash drive in front of his face. He sauntered out of the room, and against his will, Rude felt his eyes drop down to his partner's ass. After a second of admiration he shook his head, his heart sinking as Reno turned and folded his arms, leaning against the wall and smirking at him.
"Yeah, I saw that, partner," the redhead drawled. "I saw you checkin' out my ass." His grin turned wicked. "'Not interested,' huh?"
Rude straightened his sunglasses, trying not to redden. "I'm not. We have other things to worry about, Reno," he said, looking pointedly at the flash drive in the redhead's hand.
Reno's grin widened. "Yeah, yeah. I ain't letting this go so easily though."
Rude narrowed his eyes, though Reno couldn't tell through the shades, cursing both himself for being careless and Reno for being so damn observant.
When they got to the offices, they caught Tseng frowning and massaging his shoulder, but the director quickly dropped his hand when he caught sight of them.
"Do you have it?"
Reno nodded, tossing the flash drive at his boss. "Said it was as clear as he could get it, but it might pick up more than one person."
Tseng ran the man's face through their extensive facial recognition software and came up with at least nine results, then handed a sheet of paper to Rude.
"Match the names with the gala's guest list and we should have him." He started reading out names, with Rude checking to see if they matched any on the guest list.
"Got one," the big Turk said when they were on the fifth man.
"Reiss Leventhal?" Tseng repeated. "It's him?"
"Looks like it."
"You and Reno are best at interrogation. I don't care what you do to him, find out what he knows." Tseng's voice was quiet and deadly. "I'll have Elena and Cissnei bring him in. The usual spot."
Reno's lips curved in a slow smile and he cracked his knuckles audibly. "I'm dying for a good head-smashing," the redhead said coldly, venom lacing the words. "Let's go, partner. Teach him what it means to take a shot at our president, hey?"
Twenty minutes later, Rude and Reno were approaching the abandoned shack the Turks used for interrogation. It was far enough outside the city limits that no innocent passersby would hear any screams and come to investigate, but not so far that it was inconvenient for the Turks to get to it.
Cissnei and Elena were just stepping out of the door, the auburn-haired girl nursing what looked like a bite on one hand. "He's a feisty one," she told them crossly.
"Oh, good," Reno purred. "Better hope he don't have rabies, Ciss."
"Shut up," she told him, giving them a little wave. "Good luck!"
They stepped inside the cool darkness of the shack. Rude's eyes adjusted enough to glimpse a figure in the center of the room, lashed to a chair. Reiss Leventhal was bound and gagged, but his dark eyes stared at them fiercely from behind tousled bangs.
"Hellooo," Reno sang, crouching in front of Leventhal. He peeled the tape from the man's mouth, earning a little cry of pain. "Let's start simple. You know who I am?"
"Reno of the Turks," the man gasped out, then sent a wad of spit flying into Reno's face. The redhead didn't flinch, just wiped his face clean with a sleeve.
"Let me tell you something," Reno crooned, long fingers brushing under Reiss's chin. "I saw you eyeing my partner. He's scary, yeah? Lookit those muscles. He could fuck you up bad, right?" A nearly invisible hand signal from Reno had Rude backhanding the captive hard across the face, wrenching another cry from him. "His hits hurt, right?" Reno whispered, grinning wickedly. He dug his nails hard into the skin right below Reiss's left eye, pulling the socket down a bit. "Well, I'll tell you something," Reno continued, now nose to nose with Leventhal. "He ain't the one to fear." His grin was feral, canines sharp and shining, and Rude had to admire his partner. He knew Reno was only half acting. Despite his performance after dropping the plate, Rude knew that Reno truly loved most aspects of his job, and like Tseng, had a rabid desire to protect Rufus.
Reno straightened, whipping his foot across Leventhal's jaw hard enough to knock the chair to the ground. The man lay there, groaning, but otherwise quiet, and Rude heaved the chair back up into position.
"Now," said Reno. "If we're done with introductions…" He fisted a hand in Reiss's shirt, yanking him forward, the chair teetering dangerously. "Answer yes or no. You were at the Shinra charity gala?"
"Y-yes," Reiss gasped out.
"Good. You knew it would be interrupted, right?"
"Yes."
"You know who's after Rufus?"
"Yes."
"Tell me their names."
Reiss clammed up, lifting his chin and staring Reno down with more courage than Rude had given him credit for. The redhead's eyes flashed dangerously, and he lifted a foot, placing it firmly over the captive's groin before untying the ropes that held his right hand.
"I'll ask you again." This was punctuated by a jab to the nose from Rude, making blood dribble down onto Reiss's white shirt. "Tell me who is after Rufus."
Rude clenched his teeth, knowing what was coming as Reno curled his hand almost lovingly over one of the man's fingers. When Leventhal still didn't answer, there was a sickening crack and a howl of pain, and Rude fought down the desire to flinch. Even after over ten years of service to the Turks and more tortures than he could count, he still hated the sound of fingers breaking.
Over the businessman's sobs, Reno spoke again. "See, my partner Rude's a good guy to have around, especially if ya need someone beaten to death. Doesn't ask questions, doesn't crack a smile. He just gets the job done." Another crack and scream of pain. "But me? I'll keep ya alive for months, always in pain, till you're begging me to kill ya."
"Ifrit take you," the man managed to gasp out. "You're a fucking monster."
Reno laughed. "Tell me something I don't know, pal. Tell me who is after Rufus."
"I don't know!" Reiss wailed. Rude frowned. It was always chilling to see a forty- or fifty-something man wail.
"Bullshit!" Reno thundered, his aqua eyes blazing. He caught Reiss around the neck and in a flash, had a small knife pressed to the skin underneath one of his eyes. "You know the reason no one's ever seen Rufus Shinra cry or bleed?" He pressed down to emphasize his point and a ruby drop of blood ran down the knife blade and onto his hand. "Because of the Turks. We're damn good at our jobs, and I may be a lazy, rude piece of shit most of the time, but by the gods, you'll learn why I ain't second only to Tseng for nothing!" There was a flash of silver and Rude heard a scream rend the air. When Reno stepped back, one of Reiss's eyes was a bloody ruin, and the redhead's face was stony as he wiped the knife on his pants. "Ready to talk yet?"
Through sobs and whimpers, they could make out Reiss nodding his head. Rude took hold of a handful of his hair as the man's head dropped, forcing him to look at them with his remaining eye.
"Tell me who is after Rufus," Reno said for the fourth time, voice deceptively calm.
A string of garbled words met his demand, and Rude raised his eyebrow at Reno. "Think you overdid it, partner?"
"Didn't touch his mouth," Reno replied coldly. "Listen up, fuckface. I'll give you a few seconds to compose yourself, and then I get cranky again."
Through the curses and whimpers of pain, the Turks' sharp ears picked up a single word. "SOLDIER."
"Don't fucking lie to me," Reno said, still in that deadly, quiet voice. "SOLDIER ain't around no more."
"I-I'm not lying," Reiss said, finally managing to speak clearly. "They're not SOLDIERs anymore. They call themselves SOLDIER-X. It's a group of ex-SOLDIERs who were administered extra mako doses, even though they couldn't tolerate it. Shinra didn't care. Your precious Rufus didn't care what it did to them. Some of them were deformed, some just had brain damage, but either way, they're pissed as hell. And they're gunning for your president."
"SX," Reno said to Rude, and the bald man nodded, remembering the scratches on the floor. "Don't they know that it was Rufus's dad who handled all that shit?" He directed the question at Reiss.
"They don't care," the man gasped out. "Rufus Shinra may look like he's turning over a new leaf, but he'll get power hungry before long. They always do. He'll wind up just like his father. In more ways than one."
Rude backhanded the side of Reiss's face that still had an eye, hard. Reiss groaned, slumping in the chair in a dead faint.
"Aw, ya hit him too hard, partner," Reno complained, checking their captive's vitals to make sure he was at least still breathing.
"Wasn't much else he could've told us," Rude answered.
"Might've been able to get how he's affiliated," Reno snapped, then relaxed a little. "Let's bring him into HQ at least. Tseng ain't gonna want us to let this guy go."
Rude nodded. "You good?" he asked his partner cautiously. Reno's eyes were still blazing with a slightly crazed look in his pale face, and he was trembling a little.
"I'm fine," the redhead said. "Just…got a little carried away." He grinned. "Been a while since we've done that, huh?"
Rude nodded, allowing a smirk to slip through.