A/N: Warnings for an itty bit of sexual content
Rude woke to the sound of cries. Half-asleep still, he blearily looked around. In front of him was Reno's fire-red hair; his lover was tightly encased in Rude's arms, but the redhead was writhing as though in pain, and howling as though someone was beating him with a red-hot poker. Rude shook his head hard to wake himself up completely, wincing when Reno's flailing elbow caught him in the ribs.
"Stop it!" Reno was wailing, still thrashing, fighting to get free. "Gaia damn you, get your fucking hands off of me!"
Oh, Rude thought, pulling his arms back. In his sleep he must have held Reno too tightly. His partner was still whimpering, clawing at his chest and neck, and Rude couldn't tell if he was even awake. He had no idea what time it was; the room and the outside world were dark, but a slash of light came through the window from the street lamp outside.
"Reno!" Rude's voice was loud and urgent, hoping to get through the mental barriers he knew were surrounding Reno's mind; he'd experienced them plenty of times himself. He was itching to grab ahold of Reno's wrists so he would stop hurting himself, but knew it would make the other man even crazier to feel someone touching him and not know who it was. "Reno, wake up, you're only dreaming!" Still Reno whimpered, squirming on the bed. "It's me," Rude said finally, his voice softer. "It's Rude." He chanced a touch to his lover's hip, just a light brush of fingers, and Reno shuddered, finally stilling.
The redhead sat up sharply, drawing in a deep, rasping breath. His eyes were open, wide and terrified and large in his pale face. The scratches he'd clawed into his chest were red and oozing and looked painful, but he didn't seem to notice. He was holding a hand to his throat as though to make sure it was still there, his lean chest heaving.
Rude reached over to turn on the bedside lamp to get some more light, making Reno flinch a little at the sudden brightness. "Reno," Rude murmured, laying a hand on his knee, stroking softly as he leaned over to peer into his lover's face. "You're all right. It's only me. Breathe in for me, slowly." His deep voice seemed to reassure Reno as always, and the redhead obeyed, taking a long, slow breath. "Now let it out," Rude encouraged, sliding his hand up Reno's thigh, petting gently.
Reno shifted a little, leaning his head against Rude's bare chest, and Rude felt how cold and clammy his forehead was. Hesitantly he brought up a hand to caress Reno's bare back, running his fingers down the knobs of his spine. "Okay?" he murmured against his partner's hair.
"Yeah," Reno rasped, then cleared his throat. "I'm fine now." His voice was quiet, subdued, and he wouldn't look at Rude.
"Lie down. I'll be right back." Rude waited until Reno obeyed, then left the bedroom to search through his bathroom cabinets for disinfectant.
Reno closed his eyes, willing his heart to stop pounding. His dream was still fresh in his mind, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth, mainly because he knew it hadn't been a dream, but a memory, and he hadn't spent time dwelling on that particular memory in many years. The bed dipped a little, and he knew Rude had returned. Something damp was pressed to the scratches on his chest, and he hissed at the stinging, opening his eyes to Rude's dark face. It was composed, but the deep brown eyes were worried as the bigger man cleaned the cuts on Reno's chest. He started to move to tend to the ones on his neck, but Reno recoiled, taking the cloth from him.
"Don't," the redhead whispered, pressing it to his neck. "I'll do it."
Rude sat back a little. "You wanna talk about it?"
Reno let out a quiet little scoff, reaching up to massage his temples with his free hand. "No. I don't know. It's stupid."
"Obviously not," Rude told him, and Reno looked up at his partner, struck by how hurt Rude looked. Reno chewed at his lip. Rude had trusted him with the most intimate details of his past, Gaia, he'd even cried about it in front of him, and Reno had never seen Rude cry before over anything. But the memory was still fresh in his mind and cold as ice in his chest.
"I can't," Reno told him. "I can't think about this right now." He raked his hands through his hair, tugging it hard. The pain helped ground him a little.
Rude heard the alarming rasp return to Reno's breathing and nodded hurriedly. "It's fine." He ran his fingers up Reno's chest, pinching his nipple gently. Reno let out a little sigh, then opened one eye, smirking at Rude.
"A little distraction would be nice, y'know," he coaxed, rubbing his bare leg against Rude's invitingly.
Rude almost smiled a little at Reno's swift change of pace. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to Reno's chest carefully, watching and listening for signs of discomfort. He trailed warm kisses from his lover's collarbone down to his pectorals, careful not to hurt any of the open scratches, curling his tongue around the same nipple he'd pinched.
"Ohhh," Reno breathed out, his back arching up a little. Rude's hand was rubbing lightly over his hard stomach, slowly tracing lower and lower. The bald Turk switched to suck on the nipple that had been previously neglected, and his free hand reached up to Reno's lips, tracing their shape. The redhead opened his mouth, taking in two of Rude's fingers and coating them with saliva, that amazing tongue of his curling around them.
Rude bit back a groan at the feeling of Reno's tongue on his fingers, his other hand finally reaching his partner's groin. He brushed a thumb along the base of Reno's cock and felt it jump a little, hardening rapidly as he reached further to cup his balls. Reno let out a little choking moan around his fingers. Rude leaned down, taking the tip of his cock in his mouth and sucking gently. He pulled his fingers free from Reno's moaning mouth and brought them down to trace a line behind his lover's balls to his puckered entrance. Reno jerked a little, his strong thighs tensing as he spread his legs invitingly. Rude took him into his mouth, inch by inch, simultaneously breaching him with his finger, slowly rubbing against his heated walls as Reno clenched around him involuntarily, his hands fisting in the sheets, his head thrown back.
"Fuck, Rude," he panted as Rude's lips reached the base of his cock, his tongue flicking against the underside. "Titan's fucking balls, that's good. Out of practice, my ass."
Rude gave a somewhat muffled chuckle and pressed his saliva-slick finger in further, trying to locate the spot that would make Reno see stars. He pulled his mouth back a little, focusing on the underside of the head of Reno's cock with his tongue. Fluid dripped from the tip, flooding his taste buds with a bitter musk that was all Reno. The redhead was moaning a litany of encouragement, his hips thrusting erratically. Rude reached down with his free hand to alleviate some of the tension in his own groin, jerking himself off with hard, practiced movements.
Focusing his attention back on Reno, he moved his finger a little, stroking upwards, and Reno arched up sharply with a howl. "Shiva's motherfucking tits, do that again," he cried as his vision flashed white. Rude obeyed, sucking his entire length into his mouth again. He'd always been proud of his un-sensitive gag reflex, but now more than ever as his partner's hands clenched the sheets hard, his knuckles whitening with the strength of his grip—Reno definitely seemed to appreciate the rhythmic stroking of his throat muscles as he swallowed. The redhead cried out again as Rude pressed down on his prostate firmly, hard enough to add a little twinge of pain that had Reno exploding, shooting down his throat.
Rude swallowed quickly before he could choke on his partner's cum—Reno would never let him hear the end of it if he did—and slowly slid his finger out of his lover, giving his own cock a couple more smooth strokes before coming over his own hand with a groan. Reno's legs were quivering with the strength of his orgasm, his eyes closed as he regained his breath. Rude moved up to lay beside him, pressing his lips to his shoulder briefly.
"Nice distraction," Reno said in a dazed sort of voice. He turned his head to look at Rude, raising an eyebrow. "Sucking dick must be like ridin' a bike, hey?" he said with a grin. "Y'never quite forget."
Rude snorted out a laugh, but Reno could tell he was happy with the underlying praise. He hadn't expressed a huge amount doubt in his abilities beyond letting himself be topped, but Reno knew he was sensitive about his period of celibacy.
When he could move again and Rude was busying himself in the shower, Reno reached for his phone to check the time. It was about six in the morning; they'd slept nearly the entire night through and now natural light was starting to peek in through the windows. "Damn," Reno sighed as the bathroom door opened, letting a cloud of steam out, and Rude reappeared, a towel around his waist. "As much as I love crackin' skulls, lyin' in bed with you is better."
"If we don't die today, you get first dibs," Rude told him, going to his dresser to dig out some clothes. Reno sat up quickly.
"First dibs, partner? Who else ya got in your bed?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"You're lucky I know you're joking," Reno grumbled. "Never thought I was a jealous guy before. Now I'd waste anyone who laid a hand on you. Not that you'd let 'em," he added, thinking appreciatively of Rude's bulging muscles.
Rude pulled on his uniform as Reno sat up, stretching out his shoulders and arms. The cuts on his chest and neck pulled a little and he winced. He took his own quick shower and then paused at the bedroom mirror, inspecting the scratches.
"Want a potion for those?"
Reno pulled a face, sitting back down on the bed. "Guess so. Can't have Tseng thinking we had a hot sexy night of fun and got too carried away."
"Part of that did happen," Rude muttered, tossing the small bottle to Reno, who winked at him. He tossed back the potion, then grimaced as his stomach gave a loud growl.
"Shoulda at least eaten last night."
"You were the one who fell asleep," Rude told him, leaning over to look in the mirror as he knotted his tie. "Don't blame me." Satisfied with his tie knot, he dug in the drawer where they had started keeping a few of Reno's clothes, throwing his uniform at him. The shirt caught Reno in the face and he laughed, pulling it on and buttoning it up halfway as per usual. The stark whiteness of the shirt framed the rapidly healing scratches.
"Whatever. You got any food?" Reno asked, cinching his belt as he wandered into the kitchen.
"I eat more than takeout," Rude pointed out, sliding on his shades. By the time he had finished getting ready for work, Reno had whipped up scrambled eggs and toast, an impressive feat for someone whose own kitchen consisted mostly of takeout boxes and alcohol.
Reno handed him a plate of food. "Don't look me like that," he said sourly. "Just because I don't cook don't mean I can't. It tastes fine."
A careful bite told Rude that the food was decent enough, and it was early enough that they could take their time, so he ate slowly. "Don't eat too much," he cautioned Reno, who was wolfing down his food like a starving man. "You fight on a full stomach, the first punch to the gut you get and you'll hurl all over your opponent."
"Maybe that's my strategy," Reno said through his mouthful, but he slowed down a little. "Puke on the ex-SOLDIERs and maybe they'll get so grossed out they'll quit tryin' to kill us." He started laughing, then choked and began to cough.
"I'll stick with the standard fists and firearms," Rude muttered, sticking his empty plate in the dishwasher and finishing up his coffee. Reno was still coughing, so he reached over and pounded him on the back.
Reno was about to just toss his plate in the sink, but one sharp glance from Rude made him sigh and slide it into the dishwasher as well. "Fuckin' making me domestic, Rude," he muttered.
"Not a bad thing, with the way you live," Rude shot back, setting his empty mug in the dishwasher. "We should go."
An hour later they were crouching in a ramshackle building with Tseng, Elena, and a slew of other Turks, all armed to the teeth. Reno was filling the magazine of his handgun, the rhythmic clicks of the bullets echoing slightly in the room.
Tseng had a map spread out on the ground between them all. "We'll split up and surround the warehouse they're in," he was saying. "When I give the signal, move in. Take prisoners if you can, but with SOLDIER strength, it's more likely you'll have to go for the kill. Stay on your toes." He split them into teams, and Reno was uneasy to learn that he and Rude were each leading a group, which meant they would be separated. "Don't look at me like that, Reno," Tseng said. "You and Rude make a good team, but you're also two of my best individual fighters. I need you both as leaders." He turned back to the rest of the group. "Elena, take your group and go to the north side. Reno, the east, Rude the south, and I'll hit the west." They all nodded. "Take your positions. Make sure you're not seen, and wait for my order. Dismissed."
Reno holstered his gun, glancing over the faces of the Turks assigned to him. Most looked hardened enough, but a couple still had the eager looks of rookies. He frowned, wondering if he was taking them to their deaths, then turned his attention to Rude, who was lingering by his side. He looked up into Rude's eyes—well, his shades—and conveyed all he could about what he was feeling in a single glance. "Find me after, yeah, partner?" was all Reno said by way of goodbye, but as he was turning away he felt the light touch of Rude's calloused fingers, brushing against his hand in the smallest, most tender of gestures. He closed his eyes briefly, pushing back the nagging feeling that he might never see his lover again. He had never let his feelings affect his battles before, and he wasn't about to start now.
They crept into position, silent as mice. What Reno had first pictured as a single abandoned warehouse had been retrofitted into a spread of buildings, all close together, but by and large functioning as a small community. The map in Tseng's position had shown what looked like dorm rooms; clearly the group of mutated SOLDIERs only left the premises when they had to. They live like lepers, Reno thought, and although they were criminally insane and trying to kill his president, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor bastards, having to live like outlaws because of something beyond their control.
A hand signal from him had his group drawing their weapons. He motioned them to spread out as they approached the first building, and pressing his back against the wall, Reno edged over to peer through the window. Sure enough, he could see people inside.
Tseng's voice crackled through his earpiece. "Move in," the director said, and that was all the encouragement Reno needed. He eyed the door, noting the flimsiness of the wood it was made of, then took a couple quiet steps back.
His kick splintered the lock, exploding the door inwards in an arc of shattered wood, and one of the ex-SOLDIERS who had been standing near the doorway cried out as he was blinded. Reno felled him with another kick, putting a bullet in his skull before any of the others could even blink, the muffled click of his silencer barely audible. He barely paused to look at the body as some sixth sense made him throw up a block right in time, and he was knocked backwards. Reno hit the wall with a groan, feeling like a battering ram had hit him, and his handgun dropped from numb fingers. He shook the dizziness away and looked up, face to face with…something. He surmised it was a human, but it more closely resembled one of the creatures in the Nibelheim reactor's tanks—hard, lethal-looking spikes protruded from the ex-SOLDIER's arms and back, blackened at the tips and sharp as needles.
"Shit," Reno blurted out, barely registering the sounds of his Turks fighting around him. He looked into eyes that were still human, lit with the wild light of bloodlust. "Man, I heard you guys were deformed, but shit, you look like a damn porcupine, son!"
"Whose fault do you think it is?" the ex-SOLDIER snarled, and Reno ducked the fist that came at him, coming up under the spiked arm to ram his shoulder into the creature's stomach.
"Ow," he muttered as he hit skin that was much harder than it should have been. The creature stumbled back a little, but looked otherwise unharmed. "You fucking idiots, Rufus is not his father!" he added, backing up for another attack and rubbing his shoulder.
"You think we care?" the ex-SOLDIER screamed at him, leaping forward.
Reno ducked again, unable to do anything but dodge as he was backed into the wall. He was barely able to see the blurs that were the ex-SOLDIER's punches, having to rely on all his instinct and expertise to avoid them. One of the spikes on the back of an arm grazed his stomach when he was too slow, tearing through his blazer and shirt to cut a shallow but painful slash on his abdomen. Reno gasped with pain and faltered, giving the creature enough time to fist a clawed hand in his shirt and slam him into the wall.
"Look at what we are," the ex-SOLDIER hissed in his face, and Reno made a face at his putrid breath. "Do we deserve this life? Does anyone? Someone has to pay, and your precious president is our only option. Before long he'll be fucking up the planet and the people again!"
"You're whining out your sob story to the wrong person," Reno said coldly, staring straight into the creature's eyes. "All I'm doin' here is my job, and my job is to protect Rufus." He wrestled a hand behind himself and in a flash, was pulling his spare pistol from the back of his pants, jamming it under the creature's chin and pulling the trigger. Acid green blood spurted and Reno turned his head to avoid it, but still it splattered his chest and part of his face. "Fuck, that burns," he yelped, stepping over the ex-SOLDIER's body, surveying the damage of the rest of the men. A glance told him that most of his Turks were still on their feet.
He knelt by a body clad in the familiar navy trousers and blazers. Reno reached for the young man's throat, testing for a pulse even though he knew it was futile. The man's—boy's, really—eyes were wide and glassy; his neck had clearly been snapped. Poor bastard. "Can the rest of you still move?" Reno asked, closing the young Turk's dead eyes and rising to his feet. "Stevens, slap a Cure on that," he ordered, nodding to a young woman who was favoring a broken arm. The rest of them only had scratches. "Let's move."
They moved, working through building after building, some of them occupied, most of them empty. Reno lost two more Turks and gained several more injuries, which he steadfastly ignored. They were nearing the center of the compound, and Reno was sick of seeing once-humans with hard spikes of flesh bristling their bodies. Once in a while he encountered an ex-SOLDIER who still looked mostly human, but had eyes blank of any intelligence, mouth gaping and drooling. Those were almost worse.
Tseng's voice came crackling through his earpiece urgently. "All of you, fall back!" There was a ripping sound and he cried out in what sounded like pain. "Regroup at our starting point."
Reno cursed to himself. They were nearly at the command center, presumably where the leaders were located. By regrouping they would gain back some strength, but also let the enemy gain back theirs, but orders were orders. "Copy that," was all Reno could say, and Elena's voice echoed him.
Tseng was sporting a bloody cut down one side of his face when Reno and his remaining Turks arrived in the abandoned building they had all been grouped in not three hours earlier, and Elena was bandaging his upper arm, her deep blue eyes sharp with worry.
"What the hell, boss man?" Reno asked as he approached. "We almost had 'em." Tseng was silent.
"Didn't you hear it?" Elena asked, looking up from the bandage she was applying.
"Hear what?" Reno asked. He looked around. "Rude ain't here yet?"
Tseng pulled back his blazer, showing a cluster of wounds on his stomach that looked like shrapnel injuries. "Rude's group and mine met up, right outside the command center. They hit us with frag grenades."
Reno was trembling a little. "And?" he bit out. Tseng's jaw tightened, and Elena picked up the story.
"From what I understand, they were going for Tseng. They know he's the leader. Rude knocked him out of the way, and they got him instead."
"Got." Reno said in a dead voice, silently asking for clarification.
"Captured," Tseng corrected. "He's not dead. Not that I know of."
Reno was shaking harder now. "Then why the fuck are we here instead of going to get him?" he asked in low voice, struggling not to lose control.
"There's no way we can take on their leaders with these numbers," Tseng snapped. "They took out Rude's and my entire squads, and you and Elena clearly lost some as well. Shinra doesn't have a military anymore, Reno. We're all that's left, and we can't go in now without a plan. It would be suicide."
Reno ripped off his earpiece and hurled it across the room, narrowly missing one of the Turks. "I don't care!" he growled. His hands were shaking and twitching, his insides twisting with anxiety. It felt like his intestines had been replaced with vipers. "I can't stand here while they're doing Ifrit knows what to my partner!" he yelled, forgetting who he was talking to.
Tseng was on his feet now, looking unsteady, but still regal. "All of you, go back to headquarters," he said in a quiet, authoritative voice. "Get fixed by our doctors, and rest up. Reno, Elena, stay here." He waited until the other Turks had filed out, then turned his attention to Reno, who was still looking murderous.
"Reno," he started, but the redhead was having none of it.
"You prick," he snarled at his superior. "If you had laid out a more careful plan, if you hadn't separated us, I woulda been there to watch Rude's back, like always! Now who the fuck knows what's gonna happen to him? He could be dying! I'm supposed to fucking be there! Neither of us is supposed to die alone!"
"We all die alone!" Tseng thundered, his calm finally shattering. He shoved Reno into the wall by the shoulders, knocking the breath out of him. "Listen to me for once in your life, damn you! Go back to headquarters, and we will regain our strength. We'll come back for Rude."
Reno shoved him back, not caring if he injured him further. "We need to get him now!" he growled. "If you won't fucking do anything about it, then let me by and I'll go get him myself!" He was two seconds away from flipping his boss onto his back, but the last sane part of his brain told him not to. He was already in more trouble than he could rightly handle, and doing something like that would result in him getting fired, killed, or both. Instead he simply lunged past Tseng, and in his weakened state, the director lost his grip on Reno's shoulders. The redhead was barreling towards the door and was nearly there when he was tackled around the waist by a small blond figure. Fuck, I forgot about Elena. The woman had either been brushing up on her hand-to-hand, or Reno was more weakened by his wounds than he'd thought, because in a flash she had him pinned, her gun pressed to his temple.
"Calm down, Reno," Elena said softly.
"I'm your fucking superior!" he snarled, and she slapped him across the face, hard.
"You may be my superior but you're acting like a rookie right now, Reno!" she cried, and he was too startled by her nerve to reply. "You go after Rude now and you'll get both of you killed. His only chance is to fall back. We'll get him back." Her voice softened. "I know you love him. But getting yourself killed isn't going to help him."
Reno stopped struggling, his eyes going a little dull. Finally, "Get your damn gun outta my face, Laney."
"Will you—"
"Yeah fucking yeah, I'll obey orders. Get it out of my face!" His teeth were bared, and Elena drew back a little, almost frightened by his expression. She got to her feet and pulled him up with one hand.
Tseng was slumped against the wall, a little blood glazing his lips. Elena went to him, looping his arm around her shoulders, and he leaned his head against hers briefly in a soft, intimate gesture. Reno watched the exchange, feeling bitter. Had Rude been there, the redhead would've gloated to him about how he was clearly right that Tseng and Elena had a thing going on. Now he was just resentful.
Slowly, painfully, the three Turks returned to Shinra headquarters, two of them leaning on each other, one of them broken.