Pain that splashed on his chest was what made the young Turk wake up. It was like electricity that made his entire body spin. He bent over and felt how something pulled him back, his both hands tied with a strong chain behind his back, he was sitting on a chair or something, room was completely dark, so no matter how wide his eyes were open, he could see nothing.

But he heard it. Breath, steps, sound like wind touching someone's clothes.

"What is this, I'm not in the mood for silly jokes!"

He pulled his arms trying to get free, which caused him more pain.

Then eyes that shined against him in the darkness almost made him scream. White eyes, terrible monsterous white eyes.

"Akane?" he gasped.

"So you know that little traitor. I wasn't wrong."

Back there to the end of Midgar night wasn't far, the entire area around the ruins was cut and flashlights jumping chaotic from one place to another, searching.

"Tell me again what happened and calm down…"

"One moment he was here, we jumped to the next floor, when I turned back he was gone, I swear…"

Rude was making circles, looking around in panic, checking the same corner for the fifth time. And it was a big thing seeing Rude panicked. Other Turks were already there, a chopper was flying over them lighting everything.

"I shouldn't turn my back on him, I told him I will catch him if he fall…And I lost him! He never left me behind!"

"Enough" Rufus came down from the chopper that just landed and more agents came after him, sent to look for the red haired. "You need to step back, you are too affected, we will find him, go to the base and have some rest…"

"The hell I am!" Rude pulled his hand from Elena, who was ready to escort him to the chopper. "My partner is missing because of me, if you want my badge, you'll have it, I am not moving a centimeter from here till we find him!"

"Anything?" Elena left them to check the agent who just finished inspecting the north building.

"No, ma-am, nothing."

"Check again" she ordered. "Hair, clothes, weapon… He was wearing a silver ring when he left this morning, he may have dropped it. Any lead, you hear me? Any! He can't just vanish."

There was some funky smell around, like dirt in an abandoned basement, humidity in the air was very high, still it wasn't that chilly to make red haired shake, but he did. Those steps were coming back, a light came in the room with him, so for the first time Reno could see the man.

If a man could be called. A shadow of a man, a ghost. Pale, almost immaterial, body, hair and clothes with the color of ash. He was huge compared to Reno, strong physics, eyes like moons. Another mutant maybe, just this one left the expression there was nothing of a human in him.

"Tell me, where is she?"

That voice wasn't of a human too, deep, scrapping, merciless.

"Who?" Reno forced himself to look the man in the eye.

"Akane."

"I… Don't know her. I only read in the file…"

The scream he made interrupted his words, that thing reached him and felt like he was digging with bare hands into Reno's guts."

"Don't dare lie to me, Turk! I can smell her on you."

Red haired collapsed on the chair, breathless for a few seconds, he never felt anything like this for his entire life.

"Now start talking, or I will start sending pieces of you by alphabet order to your bosses."

Reno tried to swallow, his throat was so tight.

"And why would you think they care about me?" he tried to bluff.

"Because" man made a step forward and Reno bent backward "your partner got worried sick, at this moment every single Turk is looking for you, along with Rufus Shinra."

Reno lowered his head. It felt good knowing his partner was looking for him. Which put him in potential danger, he was standing on the way of that sick fuck here.

"And if that doesn't work" the voice told him "I will go after your family, your friends and every single person you have ever known."

Rare anger grew in Reno's eyes, his teeth clenched so hard that he almost broke them.

"You won't touch them!" his voice came like the roar of a wild animal. He pulled his hands on the chains that brought him back to his place.

"And how are you going to stop me, boy? I will rip off the skin of that pretty girl Elena, then will remove the eyes of your precious partner, so he will start wearing dark glasses all the time."

Reno felt sick only with the idea of it, his stomach churns, he needed to get out of here and warn them.

"Think about it. You better have the right answer when I'm back."

Door shut after him.

"My god…"

Reno's head fell back and he closed his eyes. His heart was rushing so fast that he got arrhythmia; he could be absolutely honest he hardly felt such a fear in his life, the worst kind. People he cared most about, being unable to protect them, locked here, alone and helpless.

"Put yourself together, put yourself together…" he started repeating to himself. " You are a Turk, you are not a cry baby, you will manage it… For fuck's sake!"

He clenched forward shaking, the horror of this broke him, his face experienced pain he couldn't control, nothing to do with the physical one.

Reno didn't have the strongest self control, but he was stubborn for both him and his partner. He HAD to beat this, alone, without the help of Rude, Turks, guns and advanced weapons Shinra used to provide them for every mission. It was on him to save his own ass now.

His wrists were sore from the tight chains, still could feel the pain in his abdomen, his back was killing him. But he was still alive, yet, so he was the winner in this situation. Yet.

"Do you know that they hide the best liquor downstairs" he remembered how Rude told him when he came to work for Shinra. "The finest drop of everything! Once I tried it at one of those Turk parties. Man, I'm telling you, it's insane!"

"Yeah, bosses drink the best, and we are taking what's left."

"I know the code for the room."

No second word needed, no convincing or excuses like "but we shouldn't do this." Both of them went to the basement and got drunk as animals, of course got scolded so badly after that, but since then Shinra's stocks were moved to another place.

Reno remembered with a smile on his face how they drank a few bottles each, then spent the night laying on the floor, dizzy and unable to get up and hide if someone decided to come.

He also remembered how all of them, Rude, Elena, Tseng and him went to catch a group of refugees and it turned out they were some kids vandalizing around. Elena insisted on giving them lectures and let them go instead of arresting them. Then they all made up a story. There were huge dangerous guys who almost killed them and they lost them with risk to their life. When Reno said there was a huge dragon with them that tried to bite his head off, Rufus realized they failed and sent them home with warning.

Those people were HIS people, kinda his family. He risked his life many times for them, they never hesitated to save him too. Now were probably looking for him, just like that psychopath said. He couldn't sit and wait for them to get killed. This wasn't him, he wasn't a coward.

"Alright, hold it, it will hurt like hell, just don't scream in three, two, one…Goddamn it!"

He pushed his arms and almost broke his wrists, and could hear cracks in his joints. One more effort and the chair's back broke so he could get free from it. Reno laid on the floor and moved his arms in front of him. Blindly touching around he found a piece of the broken back of the chair and held it, it was the only weapon he had now.

"This is ridiculous" he dropped the wood on the floor and got his back against the wall with the door. "Come at me, bitch, if I'm about to go down, you are going with me."