Reno passed the six floors to Rufus' room on foot, like the fastest elevator in the building would slow him called Rude before standing banging on his boss' private door.

When white metal double secured door cracked open, Rufus Shinra was wearing white tshirt and grey long pants,

obviously preparing for bed.

"Reno, I thought I grounded you. Do I have to remind you that both you and Rude are in trouble..."

"She's in the building" interrupted red haired.

At the same moment Rude and Tseng arrived, running.

"To the safe room,fast!"

Four men were rushing to one of the most secured rooms in Shinra castle, when sharp pain hit red haired's head so bad that he screamed. His knees reached the floor without him realizing it, holding his head with both hands.

"Reno? What's going on, man?"

"What's with him?"

He couldn't hear the voices of others, pain became unbearable. Like knives were cutting pieces of his brain.

Eventually Reno lost consciousness and woke up in the safe room with others, they left him laying on the couch.

"Next time you go for a spin, let us know so we can get prepared" almost scolds him Tseng.

"...The hell happened?" Reno pressed finger against his forehead, like to make sure his head was still there.

"You tell me" Rude was standing there, worried.

Rufus was dressed again in his official white uniform, also concerned about him and the situation, looking at him like he was a handmade explosive.

"So what" Tseng asked. "Are we going to stand here, hiding like school girls, or we will take that mutant down?"

"No" Reno stand up shaking, he was dizzy from the invasion in his head."That's what she wants. Don't fall for it, she's nothing like you've seen..."

"She is just a monster" opposed Tseng. "We have a plan and code for her. I will start the operation immediately, boss, I need your permission..."

"No!"

For the first time Reno stood against his boss, now still not in condition to fight, he still did it.

"Reno, you don't know..."

"She is after all of you, you can't stop her just like that. Akane is reincarnation of that freak Sephiroth!"

"Akane is not another copy of Sephiroth" calm said Rufus."She is one of the Genesis copies."

"Genesis?" repeated Rude. "The One winged? Genesis died back then even before Shinra collapsed."

Reno's eyes were passing from his partner to Tseng, who was like cut out of stone nowm to Rufus who used to find his own shoes very amusing. Red haired catched the situation faster than his partner.

"He didn't die, did he? Another treat Shinra hid to avoid mass hysteria."

"We lost Genesis tracks for many years," said Rufus. "At some point I allowed myself to believe he was gone."

"Of course..." Reno's headache returned. "You didn't learn your lesson last time, did you?" he snapped.

"Hey, guard your tone!" Tseng warned him. "We are going to find and eliminate the mutant before things reach the wrong point. And maybe it's a good thing if you stay here. You already messed it up once!"

"What the fuck?" his hands turned with palms up. "Rude?"

He didn't say anything, not to support him, not to accuse him. Three of them left the room, the door knocked locked.

"I won't forget that!" he yelled after them and made a gesture like he was hitting someone. "Damn it."

Being locked down and betrayed by his own partner. That felt bad.

Reno and Rude were partners since he came to Shinra. First he thought they would kill each other, but at the very first mission, they were sent to secure one of the reactors, the very same he set on fire by accident, it showed they were made to work together. Both ignoring the rules, both being a little bit too crazy considered acceptable for a Turk, both stubborn as hell. He had more fun working with Rude than in his free time hanging with friends.

Now Rude turned his back on him for the sake of the mission. He was right, of course, still it felt like a knife in the back.

"He was right doing it and you know, stop accusing him."

Reno almost jumped on his place.

"You should stop coming here like this."

He and the silver haired girl were looking at each other. Maybe this would be for the last?

She was walking slowly, more like sliding on the black floor, her sight on him, not even blinking.

"Just wanted to see you" girl told him. "Last time we aparted in not such good terms."

He catches himself circled, and couldn't allow losing sight of her too. It could cost his life.

"If you were smart, you would run" said Reno. "And what is this family meeting lately, huh? Kadaj and his gang came here, looking for their mother. Now you are talking about a father. Don't you have a family house to meet there or something?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Just take your shit and leave, girl, it's time for you all to forget about this and move on!"

Reno was talking more confidently than he felt. The way he felt was actually like a bite. Maybe that was Rufus' plan after all? Maybe Turks would rush here any moment and catch her?

"And thanks for the headache, by the way." he added.

"You think I can?" Akane pointed at him and moved around the minibar between them so fast that he stood before him in a second. He trembled. " You think it's that simple? One moment it's me, the next I wake up, surrounded by corpses."

They were looking at each other in tense.

"I get up from bed and go to make myself coffee. The next moment I am holding a head in my hand, without knowing who's head is that!" she yelled at him.

May mine not be the next, Reno thought. I need to make her calm down.

"I came here for help, not to be reminded again I am an abomination!

"Shut it, Akane... Please, shut it already!" he raised his voice to make her hear him. "I never called you abomination."

She was shaking with anger and Reno tried to guess her next move. Akane was staring at him, pissed off, desperate. She could kill him and all of his people if he was about to make one wrong step here.

"I never knew what it's like" Reno started something, not even knowing where it would go. "All those people turned into something else. Some can fly, some spit fire or fight with the strength of an entire army. I thought it was so cool before I learned what Jenova project really is.

"It's not" she told him.

Akane lost a bit of her anger, now her eyes were sad.

"They promise you to train you, promise you a bright future. "It's for the common good", they say. Then put you in a tube or inject you even before you were born. And hunt you down, and call you a monster, make you run and hide and when they kill you, they call themselves heroes."

"No heroes here, trust me."

Reno approached, still very carefully.

"You may not believe it, but we are actually trying to fix our shit here. Not doing very well, as you can see."

"You are doing terribly."

That made them both laugh and look at each other. Again, Reno could see a girl, not a monster. Again he found himself in a position he couldn't pull the trigger, no matter this time his gun was in its holster on his belt.

"You need to run, Akane. Get out of here and run, and never look of the monsters Shinra created lived to tell the tail. You need to forget about your vengeance and run, if you want to live.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can."

Reno had to convince her. It was the only way to prevent the slaughter that was about to happen.

"I can't, knowing people who caused this are still here."

"Well, I'm still here. I'll send you postcards. Please go away. Save yourself. Listen to me and run."

He should grab her and shake her so her brain goes to the right place. Stubborn girl. That would make two of them, he noted. He wouldn't give up, he should push her away. Didn't want to see her or his people dead.

Instead Reno made a step forward and touched her shoulder. She was so short, compared to him.

"I am not sure if you are too smart, trying to work on me" she met his eyes "or too stupid, thinking I would buy it."

"Stupid it is."

"Then you are so lucky. I have a thing for stupid."

She made a step too, looking him in the eye, raised her head and her lips found his.

It was an awkward moment. The girl who killed four of his people in cold blood, one of Genesis copies, the mutant. If he didn't know all this and his survival instinct wasn't working, he would actually enjoy it.

Well, maybe he did, a bit. Reno was not known for being a rule-follower. He was the one always finding himself in trouble, doing everything his own way. He didn't report on time, or shoot her when he had a chance. He wouldn't do it now either.

For a shy girl her tongue was exploring the top of his mouth very confident. He could feel adrenaline burst in his veins. His hand was still on her shoulder, instinctively he pulled her so their bodies could meet too.

"You should run." Reno whispered when their lips aparted. "I will buy you some time. Run now."

"No" she was still so close, also whispering, like someone could hear them. "Not now."

"You will make me regret this, won't you?" he said more like a fact, not a question.

"I don't know. Will you?"

Girl's lips were less patient this time, reaching the edge of Reno's lower jaw, her hand massaging the back of his neck while she was kissing the neck loop, slowly moving below. Opening his shirt revealing a pale strong body, kissing every centimeter showing off.

Akane's fingers reached his crotch and started working through the pants, he grabbed her hand to make her stop, and was about to lose control of the situation completely.

"You afraid of me, Reno?" she smiled at his reaction.

"No, I'm not."

"You are a terrible liar."

"I'm not lying... Ah!"

He lost it when Akane's hand sneaked into his pants and pulled it out, starting to stimulate him. Blood rushed down there and it was more than obvious what his little friend was thinking.

"Someone's not." she smirked.

His black jacket, white shirt and black pants fell on the floor, along with his gun. Akane removed her own uniform and they both were now standing in this so black room with reflective floor and ceiling. For a second or two Reno was trying to convince himself he could stop if he wanted. Next thing he knew was pulling her, picking her up and lifting her so she could sit on the table and meet his height.

Her pale white thighs made sharp contrast on the black wood of the table, her lips so red when she kissed him again, deep, without any hesitation this time."

"They will ground me for life after all this" he said, his breath shortened and hot on her skin.

"You never did it in the office?'

"They never catched me in the office. As I think, they may put me on a leash."

"Well" Akane smiled with this association "There are some benefits coming with it."

"Are they?"

Now his lips were exploring, reaching the dark areola and nipple on her right breast, holding her with both hands, going down on her back. Reno pulled her again and their bodies met. Girl locked her legs on his back and he started moving in her, slow, deep, making her feel every bit of it. Unsuccessful kiss followed, wet and clumsy, more to silence his own moan. Sounds she was making were driving him insane.

Their bodies swung together, their skin became wet from the touch. The walls, the floor and the ceiling were telltale reflective. Akane's nails were hurting his back, still her fingers going down on his spine, sending sparks of electricity on his entire body.

He couldn't control it, not that he tried. Penetration became more intensive and Akane bit her lips not to scream, grabbing the edge of the table. His body twisted in a bow backward, shaking, while he was finishing in her. Then they both collapsed on the floor.

Two white bodies on the black floor, ceiling seemed so unreachable and far away, where their reflections stood.

"After all..." her weak voice came first between the cut, heavy breaths "...you may need a leash. Even a chain."

"Tell me about it."

Reno was unable to focus right now, closed his eyes, trying to calm his own breath.

"You know" he could feel her touch on his chest "I liked you the moment I came here. You were out of any frames and labels. I just couldn't work my nerves to ask you out. You know... I didn't want to hurt those people."

"Don't push it." he warned her.

"Are you going to arrest me now? Give me to them?"

Reno's turquoise eyes opened, staring somewhere at their reflection on the ceiling. He was silent. Then shook his head.

"Get out of here. Run. And never come back."

Her face expressed shock, not that she didn't expect such an answer.

"Next time they will be prepared and won't miss." He stood up, looking around for his clothes. "Go now, I'll make it look like a fight."

"Reno..." she also got up.

"Just go!" he cut her, not even looking at her.

"Forgive me" heard her saying quietly. "I never meant to mislead you."

Gun raised in his hand, leaving a few holes on the opposite wall in the empty room. Window's curtains shaking from the incoming wind again.

Reno took a deep breath and smashed one of the chairs on the floor that collapsed in flinders, a few glasses followed it, some other trinkets standing there. Noise would cause the attention of others. Fooling his own people would be the praise he would pay, and never see her again.

Also every next corpse that would be left by this girl, all on his conscience, as Rude told him. It would be much easier for him to live with the death of someone else, than hers.

THE END