Coffee calmed my nerves these days, I realized. The scent alone made me feel more at ease, a tad more at home, while my mind associated the taste with breaks in Reeve's workshop and moments of unhurried contemplation.
"Hey, how's the book? The one I gave ya? 'Infernos of Vengeance' or whatever the fuck."
Or, as in this case, relaxed chats with the fiery-haired Turk. Reno posed the question as we sat underneath the tree growing in the employee lounge and cafeteria, having lunch before an afternoon earmarked for work with Reeve. I had been shy about being out in public ever since the elevator incident, but Reno had insisted. Scarlet wouldn't deign to set foot in the cafeteria, he had promised. Eventually, I had relented.
"'Inferno of Extermination'," I corrected him, a small grin playing on my lips. "It's pretty, um... interesting."
"Oh? Do tell."
I leaned back in the chair, holding my coffee cup in both hands as I peered up at the branches above in thought. While hardly a work of art, I had to admit the book delivered entertainment in the form of many flights of vivid imagination. Then again, with a world like Gaia, it was hard to tell which parts were imagined and which were reality.
"My favorite part so far is when our SOLDIER hero Leonidas decides to force-feed a bunch of grenades to a thirty-foot marsh snake, then uses himself as bait to lure it into the enemy camp. The poor, unsuspecting enemy soldiers open fire on it and the giant snake explodes, taking out most of the camp."
"A booby-trapped Midgar zolom?" The Turk sniggered. "That sounds pretty damn awesome. Maybe I oughta give the book a chance after all, yo."
"It'd be right up your alley," I said with a crooked smile.
Before he had a chance to respond, a cheerful tune sounded from his jacket. Reno pulled out his phone, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at the caller ID before answering the call.
"Hey Reeve, what's up?"
I chose to idly scan the patrons in the room while the caller spoke on the other end.
"Tseng?"
Reno's tone of voice had changed. I returned my gaze to him in time to see the slender fingers tighten their hold on the device.
"You sure 'bout this?"
His lips pressed together in a thin line at the answer, but when he gave me a quick glance a few moments later his expression had dissolved into an emotionless mask. A cold sensation trickled down my back at the sight. Whatever had happened, it was not good news.
"Right. Gotcha."
His voice was clipped and businesslike as he spoke the last few words on the phone, but it softened when the redhead turned to me.
"Change of plans, Fitz," he informed me as he slipped the phone back into his pocket, already rising from his seat. "'Fraid I gotta take ya back to your room."
My heart sank when he confirmed the conclusion I had reached seconds earlier.
"What's wrong?" I asked, following his example. "What's happened?"
"Sorry, babe, it's work."
That was that, then. No information would be shared and no questions would be answered. I gritted my teeth in frustration but followed the Turk back to the ward.
He left as soon as I passed through the ward's security doors. Disheartened and disappointed, I retreated back to my room and sat down on the bed, pulling my legs up on it to lean my back against the wall. My gaze fell on the book sitting on the bedside table, the one we had discussed only minutes earlier. A book he had received and brought to me while recovering from injuries so severe that not even the healing magic of this world could repair them all in one go.
When I closed my eyes, I could still see the dismayed surprise on Reno's face. I shivered and hugged my knees to my chest, in an attempt to calm the concern wringing my gut. It wasn't worry for my own sake. As strange as it was to admit it to myself, it was him that I feared for. If anything happened to him, how long would it be before I would find out? If something happened to both him and Reeve, would I ever hear about it?
Perhaps, if Scarlet decided there was amusement to be found in gloating.
I was in desperate need of a diversion before my mind could come up with more worst-case scenarios. I soon finished Reno's book, but as I wasn't in the mood for one of Amanda's romance novels and had few other distractions at my disposal, I ended up skimming through it to reread the SOLDIER's feats of heroism. Not for the literary value, but as points of comparison to what Reeve had told me the day before about Gaia's super soldiers. He had spoken of mutations and Mako injections, but that didn't make sense; exposure to a mutagen was too random a mechanism for such specific, systemic results. There had to be more to it.
I pondered the alleged magical properties of Mako, but I had no way of knowing whether that could be enough to explain the mystery. The details I had gleaned from Reeve's reports were of no use in this context. Try as I might, I could not form a complete picture with the information at hand. While it was probably wise not to rely on any of the book's fanciful descriptions, I didn't know if any of the executive's speculation was accurate either. I couldn't even be sure of how much of my Earth-based knowledge applied to Gaia's biological systems.
I tossed the book onto my pillow and let myself slump back against the wall, heedless of banging my head against the wall in the process. How quickly a promising day could deteriorate into one immense exercise in frustration.
A few days later, an agitated Amanda barged into my room to drag me along to the patient lounge. The TV was on, showing an emergency news report.
"They say it's AVALANCHE again," the blonde nurse said, practically shaking with outrage. "You won't believe what they've done this time!"
I expected more destroyed buildings. Therefore, I was thoroughly confused when the screen showed a reddish-black spot in the sky and the news reporter began describing the threat of a meteorite's impending impact.
"Hang on, what's this?" I asked Amanda. "What does a meteorite have to do with terrorists?"
"They say AVALANCHE summoned it, as some kind of sick payback for humanity's sins against the planet!"
My expression must have been quite the sight. I gaped in stunned astonishment at the other woman, who looked very pleased with the reaction her news had brought forth. In the background, I could hear the reporter confirm what she had just claimed.
Looking around at the faces of other staff in the room, I saw anger and fear, but no signs of skepticism. It seemed they were perfectly happy to accept the concept of a huge space rock being at the beck and call of a group of eco warriors.
I turned my gaze back toward the screen in time to see a repeat of the video. Materia was involved, I guessed; or, that was a natural assumption for the people of Gaia to make, at least. The little hairs on my arms stood up as I stared at the images of the red dot in the sky. Reno had spoken of materia affecting individual people and small groups, but had mentioned nothing on this scale. Was it really possible in this universe?
The news feed cut to a series of short clips, each showing fuzzy footage of enormous creatures, which elicited startled gasps and nervous murmurs among the break room audience. The reporter called them weapons.
"Weapons? What are they?" I whispered.
"They're, well, Weapons," was Amanda's oh-so-helpful explanation. "Created by the Planet itself."
"What does that mean?" I asked, trying to control my growing impatience. "Are they animals?"
"They're gigantic monsters, that's what they are," snapped a man next to us. "Called down on our heads by these AVALANCHE assholes."
This time, I noticed a few doubtful looks from others around us. Perhaps I wasn't the only one who knew of Shinra's tendency to shift the blame onto handy scapegoats. It made me wonder about the real story behind the dramatic news spectacle.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to ask either of the two people who might have inside knowledge for another couple of days. It didn't surprise me that both of them would be busy dealing with this crisis, but being left in the dark was insufferable.
When Reno finally showed up one morning, I was on the verge of combusting with restless tension. I was watching another news report when I heard the familiar voice behind me.
"Guess you've heard the news, yo."
I spun around in my seat.
"Reno!"
He was leaning on one shoulder against the wall, as nonchalant as ever, but his face was pale and there was a tiredness to his eyes. One corner of his mouth travelled upward in response to my relieved greeting.
"Miss me, babe?"
"In your dreams," I quipped, though the widening smile on my face betrayed the true answer to the question.
He smirked and tossed me the backpack he had brought.
"Suit up, Fitz. Reeve wants to see ya."
As we were walking to the elevators, I asked him about the situation.
"Got no answers for ya," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "No one knows what the hell's goin' on right now, except that it's all to do with some crazy fucker wantin' the world to end."
"Is that really going to happen?"
Something in the thoughtful sideways glance I received gave me a chill.
"Looks like it might."
I should have known Reno wouldn't sugarcoat anything. While I appreciated his honesty, it didn't stop my heart from sinking.
"Really? Just like that?"
"Yeah, just like that. They say it's black magic. Real old and real powerful."
"Magic," I scoffed, shaking my head. "How do you fight something like that?"
"Dunno yet, but we're sure as hell workin' on it. I'm too pretty to die in a flamin' apocalypse, yo."
He sent me a lopsided smile, to which I responded with a soft snort.
"Aren't we all."
His face broke into a grin.
"Well, Heidegger sure ain't. Y'know, we oughta fling him into Meteor. He's about the same size and just as ugly-lookin', so maybe they'll explode and take each other out."
This time I rewarded him with a small chuckle. As morbid as the humor was, it felt good to laugh again. Back home, when I had been younger and aimless, my reaction to Earth's hopeless situation had involved too much alcohol and wild parties. Not exactly a viable long-term solution, but once I had developed a certain kind of irreverent, warped humor, I had been able to deal with reality in a more useful, practical way. Suddenly, I saw Reno's inappropriate jokes and comments in a whole new light.
Once inside the elevator, squeezed in among people in business wear with their hands full of briefcases and tidy folders of paperwork, it was impossible to miss the uneasy anxiety that permeated the ride. The air practically hummed with it. The people of Gaia may have been going about their daily lives as if the giant rock in the sky wasn't on its way to crush them all, but that didn't mean they were free of its weight on their minds. I wondered how long it would be before the appearance of normalcy cracked under Meteor's pressure and fell apart.
It was a relief to reach the workshop floor and escape the elevator's second-hand disquietude. Unfortunately, the respite was short-lived.
"You!"
Our heads snapped to the side at the exact same moment. I heard Reno groan under his breath when we saw Scarlet storm toward us.
"Oh, for fuck's sake. Why is she here?"
My reaction was physical. The fight-or-flight response had my heart racing and my hands shaking within a second, but before I could move a single muscle, the woman in red was upon us.
This time, though, I wasn't her target. Thanks to her high heels and his sloppy posture, the blonde executive was able to level her face with Reno's before launching into a verbal attack.
"What are you doing here, Turk? I gave you a job to do!"
"Rude's handling it."
Even a voice like Reno's seemed subdued compared to the irate executive's piercing yell, yet he hadn't so much as flinched at the sound of it right by his face. His indifferent attitude only seemed to incense her further.
"You think that gives you an excuse to slack off? We need the huge materia now! Get to it!"
"Told ya, Rude's on it. He don't need me lookin' over his shoulder and you ain't the only boss who wants stuff done."
Several passers-by slowed down to take in the spectacle, but most of them sped up and made themselves scarce after a look of recognition passed over their features. The curious faces that remained in our vicinity were nonetheless numerous enough to make me very uncomfortable. I could only imagine how Reno must have felt beneath the uncaring facade.
The woman's icy glare made it clear she did not approve of the Turk's explanation.
"The world's coming to an end and you decide that the best use of your time is to play babysitter for Tuesti?"
"I get orders. I follow 'em. Been told that doin' otherwise is bad for my health, yo."
I didn't miss the sarcasm that sharpened his response, nor did Scarlet. Her upper lip peeled back in an open display of disgust.
"You really are unbearably stupid. What made me think the resident slum dog idiot could get anything right? Gods, you must have slept your way into the Turks. Gaia knows your face is your only asset."
My mouth fell open. I couldn't believe my ears. Reno's smirk hadn't faltered, but it was growing more strained by the second; yet he just stood there without protest while she hurtled abuse at him. Was it because he didn't want to give her an excuse to turn on me? Or was this just a normal, everyday occurrence for the Turks? Was this what he had meant by saying he was used to being yelled at?
The fear had evaporated. Instead, there was anger. It surged through my veins like wildfire, curling my hands into fists.
"So, what did you do to get put in charge, hm?" Scarlet sneered. "Did you bend over for Heidegger and the President like a little bitch?"
"Guess you'd know all about that."
Two sets of incredulous eyes spun around to me; his wide with stunned surprise, hers flaring with murderous wrath. That was my only warning before Scarlet's palm struck my cheek, the long nails tearing into my skin like claws. Already jacked up on adrenaline and fury, I reacted to the pain on pure instinct. My fist was swinging before my scream had ended, then sharp agony exploded in my knuckles as they smashed into the woman's jaw.
She stumbled backwards, but I never saw her fall. I was grabbed from behind and shoved against the wall, my startled yelp drowned out by the executive's screech of astonished rage and pain. My arm was wrenched up behind my back roughly enough to make me cry out again, and as if that wasn't enough to keep me in place, I felt something hard and smooth press against the back of my neck. Out of the corner of my eye I could make out the business end of Reno's mag rod, now extended to pin my head against the wall. For one terrible second, I thought he was going to snap my neck.
"Play dead."
He breathed it so quietly in my ear that at first I wasn't sure I had really heard it at all, but the next word out of his mouth made his meaning clear.
"Sleep."
There was no time for conscious decisions. Whether out of trust or fear, I just obeyed. When the fleeting heaviness pulled on my limbs, I closed my eyes and let my body go limp. Reno lowered me to the floor, none too gently but without further harm. I struggled to keep a blank face as the Turk proceeded to pat me down, accompanied by Scarlet's furious shrieking.
"Why did you do that, Turk?"
"Figured you'd want her alive, yo."
I couldn't help but tense up when his hand slipped in through the top of my shirt and toward my cleavage, but his intent became clear when I felt him push something small and elongated inside my bra.
"I want her awake, you moron! Wake her up again!"
"Can't. Don't have the right materia with me."
"Oh, you useless waste of space!" A pause, allowing me to hear heavy feet approaching us at a run. "Just take her to the holding cells! The little bitch will get what's coming to her soon enough."
The clicking of Scarlet's heels rapidly grew distant, but the agitated murmur of the small crowd that had formed around us told me I needed to keep up the charade.
"Shall we take it from here?"
I didn't recognize the voice. It must have been one of the new arrivals. Security?
"Nah, I may as well see this through. You, gimme a hand with her, will ya?"
Staying perfectly lifeless while I was gathered up from the floor and hoisted up between two male bodies was one of the hardest challenges I had ever faced. It was like a bizarre trust building exercise, only with so little actual trust involved that I might have found it funny had I not been so busy being terrified.
"She's shivering. Is that normal?"
"Guess the floor was cold or somethin'. Not our problem, yo."
The guard sounded more concerned than suspicious. By contrast, Reno's reply held no emotion, but his arm around my waist tightened for a second. I chose to take it as reassurance. He struck up a rather one-sided conversation with the guards, and while I suspected it was to distract them from paying too much attention to me, the sound of his lazy drawl seemed to ease my breathing. Little by little, the air began to flow smoother, each breath requiring less control to stay even.
My cheek pulsed with a searing heat in time with my heartbeat and I could feel warm droplets trickle down my face and neck. My arms were stretched around the necks of my transporters and while most of my weight was held up by the arms supporting my midsection, painful twinges shot through the shoulder of my twisted arm every time I was jostled in an unexpected way. I wondered how far I would be dragged along like this. It was getting more and more difficult to keep the discomfort off my face.
I was glad some of my hair had come loose during the scuffle. It was long enough to obscure the sides of my face as I hung motionless, my head slumped down to my chest. Nevertheless, I didn't dare risk opening my eyes to see where we were going. There was walking, a ride in a different elevator than the one we had used before, then more walking. A brief stop, questions asked and orders barked, and then one final march until a heavy door groaned open. After being brought through it, I was hauled onto a hard surface and let go.
One man left as soon as I had been laid down on my side, but the other stayed. The familiar scent of tobacco and spicy cologne kept me from panicking as he bent over me, lifting my chin slightly as if to inspect my condition.
"Camera's behind ya. Be discreet. Wait for the right time."
My head was lowered back down and released. Even with my eyes closed, I could sense Reno straighten up. The sudden rush of fear made my chest feel too tight. Don't go, I wanted to say. Don't leave me here. But I said nothing.
I heard a few receding footsteps, and then the disheartening clang of the cell door echoed off the cold cell walls. I was alone.
A/N:
On a related note, I could never stand Tifa's slap match with Scarlet. One would think a freaking martial artist would have enough punching power to send some broad in heels flying right off that damn cannon.
Thank you for reading!