A/N: Rated M for language and sexual content. Standard disclaimer applies. This chapter contains a couple sex scenes. If you don't like reading them, please skip them.

Updated 8/24/2020: Added more scenes with Reno, as well as a new scene with Reno and Rude. Edits throughout to keep Reno from being so conniving.

Chapter 15:

Sunday

Reno was trapped in those few seconds between sleep and awake where reality was confused, and dreams were persuasive.

He knew he had gone to Seventh Heaven the night before – he hadn't been drunk and he wasn't hungover now – but a couple risqué dreams about the incident had him questioning what actually happened, evidenced by the raging stiffness of a particular part of his anatomy, which was unabashedly greeting the morning air. If he could remember seeing or experiencing something three times, one had to have actually happened, he figured. He'd try to focus on his major senses; what he saw, felt, tasted.

He remembered being outside the bar and could remember how his suit jacket clung to him with icy resolve. Tifa, too, had been soaked in the rain, and Reno recalled noticing her nipples through tight white fabric three separate times – meaning it must have actually happened.

He saw her hair sticking to her face and could feel his own hair soggy as well.

He felt himself falling to the hardwood floor, the recollection forcing him to recognize the soreness in his right forearm and elbow. He checked his left hand. It was still pink, but the ache on the heel let him know a bruise would appear soon. They definitely fell. He was on top of her, straddling her and pinning her to the ground.

Next, he focused on what he hoped had actually happened.

Tifa sat up and Reno ripped the thin fabric of her dress apart at her chest, causing her breasts to spill out over what remained of her clothing.

"Reno!" she yelled, blushing heavily.

She tried to cover herself again but this time he grabbed her upper arms and forced them back so he could see her as he had only dreamed of seeing her before.

He wanted so badly to remember what her breasts looked like outside of her dress, what they felt like, and how they tasted, but he couldn't. Dammit, that was the dream.

Her smooth, alabaster skin stretched between large, natural breasts – he hadn't actually witnessed that. Which meant…

Reno moved his lips toward hers and brought one hand up to cradle her head while letting the other one explore her breasts, squeezing the tender flesh and rubbing her nipples with his thumb. And then his lips left hers and began to travel south, first to her ear lobe, then to her jaw, then to her neck, shoulder, chest, and finally to her other breast, where he swirled the nub of her nipple with his tongue before nipping and sucking on it.

Tifa arched her chest into his face and gripped the back of his head with her fingers, nearly clawing at his tresses. Reno continued to tease her with his tongue and thumb as she moaned in approval. He even kissed the center of her chest as his lips passed between her breasts. After each breast was wet from his mouth, he began to kiss the line between them, traveling south once more.

He sat up in bed as he finally awoke. His dreams had been far more enticing than reality, even though what actually happened led to his dreams. He hadn't experienced Tifa Lockhart, but he had kissed her and heard her say his name in a sultry fashion. He fell back onto his pillow with his arms stretched out to the sides, letting go of the disappointment of not having fondled Tifa's breasts while smiling arrogantly about his stolen kiss and the look on her face as she pulled away.

Reno knew how women thought. Well, except for one woman. One insane woman who seemed to see something he did not see in himself, who managed to set aside his worst transgressions and forgive him when he could not do the same.

He was a Turk, skilled in perception, deception, stealth, and fighting. But if he were to name the one skill he was better at than anything else, it was reading women. He knew what they were thinking even before they did, and he used that knowledge to get ahead of them to prove himself to be whatever guy they wanted him to be. He didn't need the ability to read their thoughts, he already sensed them. He only needed to observe a woman for a few minutes before determining exactly what she was looking for in a man. And then he would become that man.

If he needed to be a good listener, he was; if he needed to be a tough guy, he was; if he needed to be the sensitive type, well, there were just somethings he wouldn't do – until now. Until Tifa, he'd never met a woman who really, truly wanted a sensitive type. Deep down they all wanted the same thing. Even she, he thought, only wanted someone sensitive to a point.

Reno had a long list of conquests in his head. He didn't know everyone's names – sometimes he didn't ask and sometimes they didn't tell – but he always thought he was at least polite enough to be able to pick them out of a crowd if needed. He rarely gave the women he bed a second thought, but he didn't forget them, either. None of them ever captivated him like Tifa. She had seen him perform some of the worst missions of his job, yet last night she allowed him to kiss her. The taste of her sweet lips still lingered on his own.

He knew as soon as he left Seventh Heaven that Tifa would shame herself into a spiral of guilt. It was currently eating him up inside to know that he was causing her further grief. If he hadn't had such a previous encyclopedia of knowledge on women, he would have never known. Suddenly, his knowledge was a curse. He sent her that text when he knew she would be crying to get her to think about him in a more favorable way again.

She would be his greatest challenge, but he suspected she would be his greatest reward as well. He could tell that underneath that demure exterior lay a vixen just waiting to be unleashed – and he was just the man to bring it out of her.

His thoughts quickly turned to Rude and how Reno was courting the man's dream girl behind his back. Reno had told himself to stop every step of the way, but the allure of Tifa Lockhart proved too strong. He still hoped she would put a stop to it to save him from the inevitability of losing her and Rude. He knew it couldn't last between himself and a woman like Tifa. She embodied all that was good and kind in the world – and he was the opposite. She may have seen him at his lowest, but her view of him now was just occasional incidents and some happy coincidences. The real, day-to-day Reno could never satisfy her. He'd only break her heart if she were to build him up as some replacement for Cloud.

He decided at that moment to stay away from her for a few days. He knew a possible outcome of that plan – based on past experience – would be that the woman would grow fonder of him if he disappeared. It's why he stopped bringing women back to his apartment in the old Shinra building. Too many would show up demanding to see him, causing a scene in the lobby and resulting in a scolding from Tseng.

There was a chance, however, that Tifa might give up on him if he appeared to have run. Reno also knew he wouldn't be able to control himself around her at this point, giving them away to Rude. He was so guilt-ridden by now that he couldn't be in the same room as his partner and Tifa, so ashamed of what he had done, yet feeling no regret for what had transpired.

He had taken a hot shower to warm up when he returned home the night before, but he woke up still feeling the shiver beneath his skin. Another, longer shower did the trick as he plotted how he could spend his next few days without contacting Tifa, which also meant avoiding her bar and likely losing Rude as a drinking buddy for the foreseeable future.

Sunday was another day off, but he knew he couldn't sleep the day away or drink himself into oblivion. No, he had to be there for his partner, who had just failed with the woman with whom Reno appeared to be succeeding.

When he was properly dressed and caffeinated, he leaned on his elbows over his kitchen counter, cradling his PHS in his palms and staring at Rude's name in his contacts. What could he say to the man after what he did last night? In hindsight, he should have just waited to ask Rude how the date went instead of stalking Tifa.

He tapped Rude's name with his thumb and continued to hold the phone near the counter as it rang. Reno needed to play this off as if he didn't know how the date had gone, still thinking of what to say when Rude answered.

"Hmm?" Rude grunted into the phone after several rings.

"Hey partner, how'd it go?" Reno asked using all the acting abilities he had as a sometimes-undercover Turk.

Rude just grunted; groaned, really.

"So, that's… good?" Reno tried to keep the conversation light.

"I screwed up," Rude finally said.

"What? How? I doubt that," Reno lied.

"She needs someone more talkative. I just couldn't," Rude admitted with a sigh.

"Crazy. When we're out drinkin', you can be quite chatty."

"That's you."

"Eh, forget it man, let's go drink," he offered, feeling like a scumbag as the words left his lips. "And you can be as chatty as you want."

"Okay."

"I'll meet you at the place by you in twenty."

Reno was surprised to see that Rude didn't look any different from his usual, stoic self. To the untrained eye, Rude hadn't experienced any emotions… ever. But to Reno, possibly fueled by his own delinquency, Rude looked absolutely downtrodden.

"So, why do you think you screwed up?" Reno asked after they each had a couple drinks in silence

"I don't know what to say around her," Rude responded. "And she wanted conversation."

Reno let out a simple "hmm" and stared into his drink, a cheaper scotch than Tifa served at Seventh Heaven, but satisfying enough for the current situation.

He heard Rude sigh next to him, the slightly older Turk bowing his head and wrapping his fingers around his glass as he spoke to the liquid inside, not to Reno.

"Sometimes I wish I could be more like you," Rude admitted after a long pause.

He didn't notice Reno's eyes nearly pop out of his head for a second before the redhead turned to look Rude's way, stunned.

"No, you don't," he said tersely, turning his attention back to his own drink and mirroring Rude's grip on the glass.

"At least when it comes to talking," Rude countered. "You've made her laugh… and smile. You got her talking when no one else could."

His voice was definitely strained, as if the admission was physically hurting him. Rude felt his chest tighten as he spoke, the slightest hint of jealousy stinging like a mosquito to the back of the neck.

"It's just cuz I don't have a filter," Reno offered. "Everyone else was afraid to talk to her after Strife bounced, but I don't care. I'll say whatever."

"I've noticed."

"You could be like that, too, yanno."

"I overthink too much," Rude took a large sip of his drink and brought the glass down to the bar a little harder than he intended. "Maybe she should be with you."

He couldn't believe he had let those words leave his mouth, but he didn't regret saying them. He wanted to gauge Reno's reaction; a test of sorts, to see how the redhead responded. Rude's suspicions were at an all-time high, even though he tried to tamp them down, wary of being so distrustful of his best friend. But something had changed in Reno over the past few months since Cloud had been gone. Rude didn't think anyone else would notice, but being Reno's best friend, it was kind of hard to miss. Years of evidence began to seem less than coincidental: The change in Reno's demeanor following the pillar, everything about their mission in Gongaga, how he's changed the past few months, including his lack of sexual conquests and his increased focus on getting Rude to date Tifa while reacting noticeably when she actually accepted the date request. And he still couldn't get Elena's "one of you" comment out of his head.

Rude hoped Reno would answer his question in some obvious way to confirm all the elder Turk's suspicions. Perhaps Reno would grunt, or spit out his drink, or straight up agree, giving Rude the sign he needed.

For Reno's part, it took quite a bit of self-control to keep from flinching at Rude's suggestion. After a brief pause to calculate a response, Reno quirked his head.

"Hard pass," he said plainly. "Too much baggage with that one."

The lie tugged at his heart, even if he knew, objectively, she did carry emotional baggage.

Rude's eyes narrowed behind his dark sunglasses, sure he could tell Reno's heart was racing despite his outwardly cool and calm demeanor. He chalked it up to his own insecurities; he couldn't blame anyone else for Tifa being uninterested. There were many reasons why Tifa hadn't been more captivated by the bald Turk, but it all boiled down to their personality differences. It wasn't Reno's fault that Rude didn't talk much on his date with Tifa, or that she laughed and smiled more during her interactions with the redhead.

An uncomfortable silence hung over the two men as they finished their drinks and signaled for new ones.

"Hey, remember when we first met?" Reno asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

Rude snorted ever so softly.

"Heh," he said, raising his eyes from his newly poured glass to look straight ahead at the liquor cabinet behind the bar, "I thought you were an arrogant little twerp that was going to get us all killed."

Rude was picked for Turk recruitment just a few weeks before Reno as part of the same program that focused on gangbangers in the slums. Shinra's thinking was that the gang kids already knew how to fight and lacked most of their consciences, so giving them fancy homes and big paychecks could keep them loyal. It worked, thanks to Tseng's intensive research into possible recruits while he was Veld's second-in-command and assigned to oversee the program.

Rude and Reno were the first two successes of the program. Years later, Alvis, Emma, and Ruluf would all be hired as part of the same strategy.

"Well, look how wrong you were, cuz I haven't," Reno said with a sardonic smile.

"Yet," Rude added, the corner of his lip rising.

Reminiscing was common for the veteran Turks, yet it always ended with angst. Even though all the previously exiled Turks had been rehired, they hadn't been moved to Edge. They remained scattered around the world. What had once been a close family of misfits was now distant and disengaged. Reno kept up with them as part of his duties as current second-in-command, but gone were the days of working with the younger members on tough missions and organizing large office parties.

Reno and Rude's trips down memory lane inevitably led to one of them, this time Reno, saying, "Remember that time…" and telling a story about one of the other Turks. This example was about Balto, whom Reno still referred to by his nickname "Katana" based on his weapon choice. He rarely called them by their real names. He did use Maur's real name in Midgar during Meteor, but that was because things were too chaotic and urgent for casual teasing.

Even though the uneasiness that came with discussing the newly rehired former members brought them down, the stories they told from the old days eventually lifted their spirits.

With Rude suitably drunk and on his way home, Reno found himself trapped with unwelcome thoughts and feelings that kept cropping up on him, invading his mind like the kudzu vines threatening to choke the forests of Mideel.

Monday

Reno sat in his office in the new Shinra building, his feet propped up on his desk as usual. He was supposed to be looking through more of Hojo's research, but just as before, the words jumbled together just when he thought he was making progress. Hojo's notes were so dense, so heavy with his own scientific jargon, and written in such an odd script that they were more like ciphers than actual notes.

Reno's mind kept wandering back to Saturday night with Tifa and his growing concern that Rude was on to him. As much as he wanted to return to her bar and taste her lips again, he needed to give it a few days to let things cool down. Then he'd return to the bar, hoping to have her out of his system.

She'd be embarrassed about their secret, the dirty little secret that only they knew. She couldn't risk Rude finding out – or anyone else for that matter. The whole situation might just disappear as if it had never happened in the first place. At this moment, Reno hoped they could both simply move on.

"Reno, if you're not going to help look through the research, take Rude and go patrol!" Tseng called out from his office. He rarely kept his door open but had done so since they began sifting through Hojo's information just to keep the lines of communication open.

Reno's eyes lit up and he offered an exaggerated mock smile, wondering how Tseng could tell he wasn't making much headway. Patrolling the streets wasn't all that fun either, but it definitely beat sitting in the office reading. Of course, that also meant risking Rude asking to go into Seventh Heaven, but Reno was prepared to make excuses.

He gleefully stood up from his desk and sauntered out of the room with Rude following. He stuck his tongue out at Elena on his way out, but he knew she was happy to be left alone with Tseng again.

"Don't die," she said, returning to look at the papers in front of her. Her tone gave no indication that she cared whether they died or not.

The two left the building at a quickened pace. Rude was more subtle, but he hated spending his days at his desk pouring over Hojo's research notes as well. It wasn't their typical intel – that he enjoyed looking over, as did Reno – the journals left by Hojo were tedious and confusing, full of code words and undefined acronyms known only to the mad doctor.

"Ah, it's good to see the sun again," Reno beamed as he exited the building and stepped out to the sidewalk.

Just a few brave souls were on the street that day, walking briskly to their destination, their eyes darting around to look out for monsters.

It didn't take long for the Turks to find their first targets: An array of hedgehog pies causing trouble nearby. Their antics were pretty amusing, to be honest, as they sniggered and hopped along, grabbing and throwing anything they found. The Turks watched them outside one business; a small gift shop that was steadfastly remaining open despite the threat of destruction.

One of the pies climbed up onto the store's outdoor chalk board and was jumping up and down while another one found a piece of chalk and scribbled illegibly all over the store owner's handiwork. "Inside? Everything you need. Outside? Dunno, monsters," the sign said before the pies ruined it. A few others were trying to jump up to see into the store's window, their low cackle heard across the street. They chattered away as they continued their mischief.

When the store owner emerged to chase them off with a broom, however, things got ugly. The pies stopped snickering and bared their teeth at the owner while letting out a lengthy, menacing roar. Their eyes turned red and they latched onto the shop clerk, clawing at him with their hands and feet.

Reno and Rude ran over to the store and each kicked one of the pies down the sidewalk. Reno jammed his mag rod into another one, causing it to stretch out all its limbs and cry as volts surged through its body, its face twisted in pain and its plump little body convulsing. Rude punched another one of the hedgehog pies so hard it flew off the shopkeeper and into the window of the shop. It bounced off the glass without causing damage and got back to its feet, holding its head in pain. Rude ripped the last pie from the owner and spiked it.

The one that had hit the window regained its composure and leapt at Rude viciously, but the Turk easily parried the attack, sending the pie flying with a goofy cry. The remaining fiends chattered to each other and started running away as Reno began shooting at them with his pistol. They kicked the few dead pies that were in front of the store away from its entrance.

The only benefit to the increase in monster attacks was the emerging animal control industry. Someone had to clean up all those dead creatures, and the Turks' work stopped at the killing part.

They continued down the main road but were thrown to the ground from behind by a pack of guard hounds.

"This is getting insane!" Reno said as his face was pressed onto the pavement, he cheek squished and causing his lips to protrude as he spoke.

Rude was also on the ground with a hound clawing at his back. Reno reached out his mag rod to electrocute the beast that was attacking his partner. Once he was back on his feet, the bald Turk returned the favor by kicking the hound that was tearing at Reno's suit collar. Reno leapt up and the two Turks killed the rest of the guard hounds easily, just like the zenenes they found in Hojo's Drum. It seemed like they were weakened by something. Rude examined the corpse of one of the beasts and found it was covered with lesions.

"What did this?" Rude asked his comrade. Reno shook his head.

"I don't know, but I don't want to stick around to find out," he said.

They managed to walk a couple blocks before they noticed something out of the ordinary. This particular block wasn't right. Nothing was moving, which was expected, but the Turks just happened to catch the anomaly out of the corner of their eye as they crossed to the next block. Something was amiss. This block had an extra house all of a sudden. It hadn't been there the last time they came this way, and it couldn't have been built that fast.

There was something else about the house that was off, besides the fact that it was in the middle of the side street. It looked rather dilapidated for the area, with crumbling panels and holes in the roof.

The duo slowed their walk but continued onward. They could hear the sound of wood and metal clattering behind them as if a bunch of materials were being shifted in a work zone. They turned around to see no movement, just that the odd house was no longer in the middle of the side street but closer to the corner they had just passed. They gave each other a confused look but turned back and walked forward once again. The sound returned. They spun around again and the "house" was now on the same street as them, even closer.

Reno and Rude narrowed their eyes at the building suspiciously, looked at each other, and then turned around once again. As expected, the sounds of moving lumber and metal started again, this time louder and more frantic. This time when they turned around, they could see the house was standing on four metal feet and had large pipe-like arms sticking out of the holes in the roof. A freakish metal head adorned with a massive glowing spike emerged from the transom.

Suddenly, the limbs retracted into the house and its windows began glowing orange as fire bolts started to rain down around it. Reno jumped into a nearby alley, rolling as he landed. Rude performed a roll dodge into the middle of the street. When he stood up, he noticed the cuff of his pant leg was on fire and shook his foot to put out the flame.

Reno ran at the – creature? Beast? Possessed construction? – with his mag rod charged and his pistol blasting, but the house rushed toward Rude, sending the bald Turk flying further into the street.

The windows turned green and Reno again darted toward the fiend, dodging to the side of the building and digging his mag rod straight through the wood siding. The monster opened its door and a gust of wind circled around the redhead, pulling him toward the house despite his best efforts to run the opposite direction. In an instant, he was pulled inside and the door slammed shut behind him.

Rude, meanwhile, provided a flurry of punches and kicks to the front of the hell house until it sputtered and collapsed into a pile of rubble. The elder Turk ran into the pieces of broken wood and began throwing them in all directions in a desperate attempt to locate his partner. A moment later, Reno emerged, gently lifting a board before Rude could grab it and looking dazed.

"Was that… sentient?" Reno asked, examining what was left behind.

He could not see any form of creature inside, even though the house had clearly been a fiend. All that lay on the ground before him was broken pieces of wood and piping.

Rude shrugged and turned away from the monster, thinking it was best not to think about it too hard. There were any number of wacky creatures in the world, maybe there really were sentient things that resembled homes.

They resumed their patrol warily, now suspicious of every building, car, and street sign. What else might come to life and attack them?

They had little time to ponder what they had just fought before they spotted a pride of zenene's casually strolling up the middle of the street. Every so often, one would break away to inspect a nearby building. At other times, they would fight each other if one bumped into another. Reno dreaded fighting them, finding them particularly difficult to look at now after Rude's comment in The Drum about their bright red hair. He was also startled by their presence in Edge – it meant at least some of Hojo's experiments had escaped the confines of his lab in the old Shinra building.

One of the emaciated creatures sniffed the air before snapping its head toward their direction and started to growl. The rest of the zenenes quickly followed suit, even a pair that had been in the midst of a fight. They were all staring at the Turks now, and began slinking toward them as they prepared to strike.

Reno groaned and readied his weapons once again. This town was getting way too dangerous. More importantly, it was taking up too much of his time – time he could be spending scheming and drinking.

Reno cracked his neck just before the first beast lunged at him. It got one good bite in, but a mag rod to the neck caused its swift demise. Due to their emaciated state, the zenenes fell quickly, but after hours of fighting, the Turks were exhausted regardless.

By now they were just a block away from Seventh Heaven. Salvation. Rude staggered toward the front door as the sky was turning dark. He paused when he realized Reno wasn't right beside him.

"You coming?" Rude asked, stiffly.

Reno remained on the sidewalk. Going in tonight – just two days after his encounter with Tifa – would be too soon. It was Monday, he needed to stay away until at least Thursday, giving her ample time to hate him and forget any notions of a relationship, if that was even on her mind at all. Though in all likelihood, that anger would surely be mixed with hope – hope that he hadn't gotten enough from her and hope that her suspicions that he was more than a Turk would be confirmed.

He hesitated and looked off down the street, back the way they had just come. He then looked down at his feet, trying to think of what he could say that would not arouse suspicion.

"Nah, I'm getting kinda bored with the talent here," Reno said. "I'm gonna go check out that new place on Mako and 5th."

Rude nodded and made a sound in his throat. He had been around Tifa without Reno before – just a couple days ago, in fact – and he could do it again. But things were different now, and he really wanted his friend's support despite his earlier misgivings.

Reno headed off back toward the new bar while Rude entered Seventh Heaven and took his usual stool at the bar. Tifa smiled warmly at him when he entered, but he noted something faint in her expression, like she was missing something. She continued to dry a glass with a dish rag and re-rack it before grabbing a new glass for Rude's scotch.

"Welcome back," she said in a rather chipper mood.

"Thanks," Rude replied, taking a sip of the drink Tifa placed in front of him.

She returned to assisting other customers for a while as Rude busied himself with his drink, unable to think of anything to say. Things seemed to be exactly as they had been before their date, with Tifa working and him trying to come up with conversation topics but failing.

She seemed to just breeze through the night, though Rude noticed she appeared to be waiting for someone. She kept looking at the door expectantly whenever someone entered. She had done that for a while after Cloud first left, but her need to check who was entering her establishment dissipated in the weeks and months after. Now she was at it again. Maybe she had heard from Cloud, Rude thought. Or maybe she was looking for someone else.

After a few hours – and more than a few drinks – Elena and Tseng entered Seventh Heaven and joined Rude. The bald Turk was now convinced he saw the smallest hint of displeasure escape Tifa's face when she acknowledged their presence.

He shook his head. He couldn't go down that road again just because his date with her hadn't gone that well. His mind simply must be playing tricks on him because he was exhausted and injured and now liquored up.

Meanwhile…

Reno didn't have a particular type of place he preferred. A popular bar like Seventh Heaven was fine, so was a dive bar, and so was a place like Elixir, a loud and harshly lit dance club. The only lights were neon colored and swirling around a dance floor and DJ booth. Black lights provided most of the illumination, but hot pink and lime green dazzled in quick flashes, cutting through the simulated fog. Reno made his way to the bar, which had a dark counter but bright white back lighting that nearly blinded him. He ordered his usual scotch and scoped out the dance floor, bringing his glass to his lips.

It was difficult to zero in on one woman in a situation like this, but Reno knew what he was looking for. He needed to get thoughts of Tifa out of his system before he could return to Seventh Heaven, otherwise he wouldn't be able to help himself and might abandon his carefully crafted plan to end things with the barmaid. His previous attempts to find other women to focus on had failed, but he was determined to keep trying to resume his previous ways to end whatever was going on in his head and making him soft.

He was scanning the room while leaning back on his elbows on the bar, dangling his glass over the edge casually. He wanted a specific type of woman, one that was similar enough to Tifa Lockhart, thinking if he could find one that look like her, maybe his brain would connect the two enough for him to stop imagining sex with the former AVALANCHE lieutenant.

There were several brunettes in his field of vision. One had short, curly hair. One was fat. One had no breasts. Another looked promising. She had long dark hair and a decent enough body. Her tits were practically hanging out of her leopard-print halter top. They weren't as big or perky as Tifa's. In fact, they kind of sagged. The skin on her face was also cracked and leathery from sun exposure, but she was pretty enough. She was a good enough look-a-like to satisfy him for the evening, so he weaved through the crowd until he was dancing with her.

She turned to look at him and smiled, approving of the man standing before her. They danced and kissed for a while before Reno popped the question. The woman readily agreed, and he led her to the bar to order her a drink. A few minutes after that, he was leading her to a back room, hoping to get this over with so he could go home and sleep.

The woman he pulled from the dance floor was satisfying enough. Once they were alone, she got on her knees and unzipped his fly without him even having to push her head down. It meant he didn't have to look at her face and could just watch long dark hair moving back and forth from his hips as her lips surrounded his cock. When she tried to look up at him he'd just push her head forward. He didn't need to see her. Her actions allowed him to close his eyes and think about Tifa in the same position. He was able to imagine that she was in this storage closet on her knees before him. It was enough to get him close…

He grabbed this other woman under her arms and pulled her back into a standing position. He then turned her around so she was facing away from him, and he lifted her skirt. It was then that he noticed she had no ass and a tattoo on her lower spine of a rose.

Typical," he thought, rolling his eyes.

He pulled a condom out of his pocket and unrolled it on his cock before entering the woman. Usually he would ensure the woman would be left thinking about him long after he left, and he reveled in the thought that he was often the best lay these women ever had. But this woman served a specific purpose, and he was desperate for her to get him to stop thinking about Tifa, even if that was an unfair requirement to impose on her.

She still came. He did as well a few minutes after, stopping himself from saying another woman's full name.

"Teeeee-fuck…!" he said as he filled the condom.

He caught his breath before pulling out of the woman, who turned around and tried to kiss him. He turned his face and removed the condom before tossing it into the back of the closet. He zipped up his fly, buckled his belt, and without another word, left the woman in the closet before quickly and silently slipping out of the club and into the night. The woman remained in the closet for a moment, feeling rejected and confused.

A larger police presence took over at night to keep the monster population down. Reno had no interest in fighting any more creatures tonight. He was spent, and just wanted to get home and get through the next few days. He was detoxing, in a sense, and wanted the worst to be over already.

He kept to the shadows and sides of buildings to avoid detection and managed to make it back to his apartment on the North Side of Edge with minimal interaction with fiends. Turk work had paid him quite well, and he lived in one of the more expensive apartment buildings in the city. He, of course, was too lazy to decorate, so he purchased a fully furnished unit. It was cold, sterile, and monotone, with light gray walls and Berber carpet and sleek, black leather sectionals. There were no photos of friends or interests hanging on his walls, and it was sparsely decorated, mostly with abstract paintings that lacked color. His bedroom was no different, with a dark gray bedspread that was unmade and modern dark wood furniture. A pile of dirty clothes was the only "decoration" in the room that he contributed.

Reno removed his suit jacket, gun holster, and mag rod as he entered his home, tossing the first two items carelessly on the couch. He brought the mag rod with him into his bedroom and set it gently on top of his dresser in its charging station. He unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it on the pile of clothes that was just about in need of washing. He collapsed face-first on his bed after removing his pants and shoes and remained in that position until morning.

Three more days until he would allow himself to even consider seeing her beautiful face again.