Shinra's president was at the hospital in unconsciousness, day and night their best doctors never leaving him alone. His condition was the same – sleeping, calm, like untouched. Nobody detected any presence in him, or of Genesis around the building, nor outside the gates and in the city. Tseng was standing at his office and staring at the empty chair, his brain was blocking. Reno was dealing with everything since Rufus was not doing his job for the company, his head was boiling with all the things he had to do, never knew his boss was so busy and under such pressure.
And Rude, he went to see Elena in the hospital. She got surgery, they almost lost her, now was too weak and in bed, having antibiotics transfusion. Her hands were so cold and pale, her face turned grey.
"Are you alright?" Rude was asking, trying to warm her hand in his.
"They shoot me in the abdomen" she said. "You have no idea what the pain from this is. No broken bone could be compared with it. I hoped to die."
Rude caressed her hair.
"And when I woke up they told me the president was at the hospital too, and there was no sign of life in him." She stifled her cry.
"He will be fine, I know it. You will be fine too. I'm sorry."
"Where's Tseng?" she asked. "Isn't he supposed to come and visit his partner?"
"He had a blackout after what happened, and didn't even go to Rufus' room."
A moment of silence between them. Rude stood up to pour her glass of water.
"I thought that you were the one who would take me to the hospital."
Rude got numb.
"Tseng took you…"
"I know Tseng took me."
Rude realized what her protest was for and passed the water to her.
"Reno is my partner, I stand with him. I forgot that once and almost got us both killed, he was mad at me for days. And he was right."
A tear came down from Elena's eye.
"I want to know that I am more than a job to you, Rude." Woman looked at him. "That when I am deadly hurt you will choose me, not the job."
Rude sighed and removed his glasses, his dark eyes stared at her.
"It's not that, is it? You still haven't overcome him, am I right?"
Her lips trembled, she didn't answer.
Getting out of her room, Rude was so dark that he almost hit Reno without seeing him, coming to check the situation.
"What's going on?" his partner asked.
"Not much" Rude decided not to share about Elena, not yet. "You?"
They will crucify me, man, I don't know how the boss was dealing with all this!"
Reno laid his back on the wall in the dark corridor, windows were showing the stormy sky outside, not raining but dark, like their mood.
Red haired closed his eyes, like he was resting, his face was also expressing agony.
"What have we done, Rude, how are we going to live with this?"
"Hey, listen to me, he will wake up. He is Rufus Shinra, he always deals with everything."
Reno shook his head, still not looking at him.
"I don't know, I don't know what to do."
He was about to cry, but Reno never cried. Still it was enough for Rude to understand what was bothering him.
"We did the right thing. You hear me, we did right."
He lowered his voice because a nurse passed, pushing a cart with medicines to some of the rooms.
"What if we did nothing, huh? Genesis would kill us all, then overtake the building and kill everybody. And then the city, and then god knows what. Rufus asked us, remember? He begged. I never saw this man begging for my entire career here."
"I don't know if I was right" Reno got up and headed to the elevators with slow steps. "He offered me again to turn her back."
"Genesis?" Rude stared at him. He didn't need his glasses in this lack of light. "He is playing with you, just because he knows what would hurt you the most. Nobody could bring from death."
"Akane was talking with such adoration for him, we never actually asked him what he wants."
"What he wants?" Rude pushed him and stopped walking. "Isn't it obvious what he wants? He kills people, overtake the city and twist our army, possess our leader. You don't ask such people what they want, you shoot to kill!"
"We shoot to kill" Reno repeated. "And now we are better than ever. Tseng lost his marbles, we are still at war, not knowing where the enemy is, Rufus is in hospital, not reacting, Elena is with a hole in her stomach… Tell me what to do, because I don't know. I don't."
Reno put a hand before his eyes, covering them, hiding, when Rude's hands got to his shoulders and shook him.
" Don't dare fall apart, you hear me? If you give up too, I'll shoot myself!"
We will fight, Rude told him, we will stand and take whatever it comes, and avenge the fallen, protect our own and never bend over.
The next day Reno called Cloud.
"Yeah?" a static noise around Cloud, he was busy with something."
"I need you to come here. There is something. Bring your friends."
"Emergency?" Cloud dropped whatever he was holding.
"You can call it that way."
Reno's voice was strange, he noticed. He was just changing the oil of his motorcycle, wiped his dirty hands in his already ruined shirt and raised from the ground.
"Something happened?"
"Yes."
His attention rose. Reno was never that silent and worried. He didn't call him stupid Soldier or one of his usual strikes, not once.
"Who do you want me to bring?" Cloud was starting to worry.
"Everybody."
"Everybody? Man, what's going on?"
"All tell you, there's a meeting after two hours, be there."
"Tifa!" Cloud hung up and rushed inside. She and Marlene were preparing lunch.
"What is it?" She left the dishes.
"Reno called. We need to go."
"You are rushing to see Reno?" she joked, then frowned, seeing his serious face. "What happened?"
"He didn't say. Call Vincent, I'll collect the others."
"Wait, Cloud, what's going on?" Tifa got his hand. "You are getting me worried."
"Me too." Marlene left the knife and the salad she was cutting.
"I don't know. But I never heard him like this before. I'm going to change, we are leaving in ten minutes."
When arrived, nobody stopped them at the portal. Marlene was wearing her Turk uniform, she met with Mike and aparted Cloud's group. Vincent, Cid, Barret, even Yufie were there. She never crossed the Shinra gates before.
Meeting hall was almost empty this time, considering mostly Soldiers and a couple of physicists presented. The only Turks were the trainees, Reno and Rude. Rufus wasn't there, but it was a normal thing for him to arrive after everybody.
But he didn't. Instead Reno was standing in his place and never watched any of them. Rude was standing at his right side, serious, gloomy, holding his hands in front of him. At some point he shouted at the people to shut up, so the meeting could begin.
"What's going on, why do they call us?" Mike whispered to Marlene.
"I know nothing. Is he… Wearing a tie? Have you ever seen Reno with a tie?"
Indeed, Reno was looking different today, wearing his uniform in its full form, being quiet, everybody noticed that. Vincent crossed his arms, Cid and Barret kept quiet, then the Turk looked at them.
"Thanks for coming. I called you because the last events demanded it. You all used to support Shinra, one way or another, you deserve to know, and to be prepared."
"What's going on here, prepared for what?" Barret yelled over the heads of others.
"Where's Rufus?" Cloud asked.
Reno was trying to pull the words out of his throat, but it didn't happen.
"Genesis attacked him." Rude took over. "During the battle he was badly injured. He is still unconscious."
People start gasping and commenting.
"Elena and Tseng too." He continued. "We don't know if there will be a second attack, we wanted to warn you…"
"What do you mean, attack, we heard nothing." Vincent asked.
"It happened here, he made the boss shoot at Elena, he took over him…"
"Where is he now?" Tifa asked.
Reno didn't say a word anymore, left Rude to talk.
"He is in the hospital in very bad condition, doctors couldn't wake him up."
Whispers, gossip, people start shouting.
"Please, silence… Please, keep silent!" Rude was trying to put some order. He couldn't do it like Tseng, or Rufus. Reno wasn't even trying.
"Who will lead the company now?"
"Without the president, that burden lays on the first in charge, it's Reno."
"What? You left Shinra to him?" Cid yelled. "You kidding me?"
"No, I'm not." Rude came out and cut the space between him and Cid. "For the last months his ideas saved more people than for years with other people in charge. So I advise you to watch your mouth." Rude pointed at him.
"W-what are we going to do?" Marlene asked. "What now?"
"Now we are preparing for Genesis, no matter if he is coming back or not. Since me and Reno are the only available here, I would ask you to keep placing shields around the city." Rude turned to Cloud. "It's important to keep people safe. Also report to us if there are more missing citizens or damage around the city. We just can't cover everything for the moment."
Rude expected more questions and objections, so he was surprised when the only response was:
"You got it."
Cloud was standing in front of his group and holding his head high.
"We will take care of the city, you put yourself together. We will be in touch."
They turned to the doors.
"Marlene, come on!" Barret called her.
"I am staying" she said. "They need me here."
When everybody left, and only the Turks were still in the room, Reno didn't make a sound, she came closer.
"Tell me what I can help you with." Marlene told Rude. "Anything. You should call earlier."
"We didn't know what to say to you." Rude shook his head and finally showed some weakness too. "Everything was such a mess."
"What happened to Elena, and where's Tseng?" the girl asked. "How is the president shot at her?"
"It's… complicated." Rude had no idea how to explain it.
"Is he dead?" Mike asked.
"I don't know." Rude said honestly.
"You don't know?" the boy's jaw dropped. "Are you telling me Rufus is dead?"
"He is not dead" Reno finally managed to say something. "But he is not responding to the treatment."
"Holy shit!"
"I need you to help me with the northern wing" Rude called the boy. "We need to make a check, I will explain to you what to do."
"Yes sir." Mike was dashed.
They left and Marlene came to Reno, who was sitting in his chair with an expression she never saw on his face by the moment. His eyes were so sad, he was one idea from done.
"What happened, Reno, how… Tell me, please, how did the president get attacked?"
He was numb, then shook his head without looking at her.
"It was my fault. It was all my fault. It was all my fault."
"What was your fault?" the girls couldn't understand.
"I came with the idea to attack Genesis, I did this."
"You did what? What is your responsibility?"
"Genesis possessed the president, he shot Elena and I came up with the idea to attack him with mako energy."
"He possessed…" her jaw dropped.
"We almost killed him. Elena almost died, and Tseng is like dead since then, probably blaming himself. I did this, it's all my fault."
He clenched in two, hiding his face in his palms, Marlene was in shock.
How could someone possess another person? To make him shoot his employees? That was terrifying. And Reno, Marlene doubted he meant to harm anyone.
"Please don't blame yourself, I'm sure you didn't want things to turn this way. You are leading the company now." She got her hand on his, trying to calm him down.
"I can't do this." He rose and went to the door without looking at her, getting out.
Marlene catched up with him in the middle of the corridor. He was probably going to the cafeteria, or to his office. Was Rufus' office his now?
"Reno, please, talk to me, and stop blaming yourself…"
"Stop blaming myself?" he turned back, suddenly a rage grew in his eyes. "It was my call that caused all this, I tried to fight something I had no idea what would happen. It is ALL my responsibility! Who else to blame?"
"Why you have to blame someone?" she stood before him, too mature for her age. It was sad when you see how a kid must grow up and deal with the stuff of adults, not having time to be a kid.
"Tell me, huh?" Marlene kept going. "Why you have to blame someone, you tried to help!"
"Because he may never wake up!" Reno shouted.
A silence sneaked between them and started growing, more and more, overtaking the entire corridor, then the building. Heavy, damaging silence, unbearable.
"Because I might have killed him and he may never wake up!"
"You don't know that." He kept walking and she ran after him. Damn, this man was making huge steps! "You don't know, he may wake up, since I know, the boss went through many things and none of them took him down for long."
"Yeah" Reno slowed down. "None but his most trusted employee. He put his life in my hands and I killed him."
"You didn't kill him…"
"Yes, I did!" Reno was mad now, anger he held could burn the entire building. "He may wake up, huh? What if he doesn't? What if I killed him? What if I…"
"Stop it." Marlene took his hands. "Just stop it already."
"What if I did, what excuse would you find for me then?"
"I don't wanna hear any of this." She pulled him close. Finally all the horror chasing him from the last days got him, knocked him down, shook him and made him scared.
"It's alright." Kid said, when he dropped his head on her shoulder, hiding his face from her. "You were the one who told me you cry because you were strong for too long. For how many people you took it and pretended it was fine, huh? Your boss, your colleagues, your friends, and me. It's alright."
They were standing in the middle of the dark corridor, in the empty Shinra building. Better nobody could see him like this, he never reached the point to cry in front of a child and lose control of everything.
"What am I supposed to do?" he asked again.
"Now? We are going to get you a sandwich." Marlene pretended that scene never happened.
"Come on, I have tons of things to do. And I can't let a thirteen years old buy me lunch."
"Ok, then you will buy me one and we will split." She got his arm under the elbow.
"You are vegetarian." He reminded.
"I will remove the dead thing from it." Marlene winked.
Reno felt how he smiled at her. That little girl was somehow making him feel better, with her naive words and still untainted mind.
Then he realized Rufus was still in the hospital, that all the job he left was waiting for someone to do it, and he and Rude were the only people in the entire building capable of doing that. Trainees were not even a half ready to do important tasks.
And Tseng, he had to check how Tseng was. And to call Cloud to ask about the shields and the town. And later to go check the reactors. His head started hurting.
"Whatever, I will make time for half a sandwich."