Ill Wind

Chapter One


“I'll speak only with my daughter,” Darkin said from where he crouched on the floor, then spat a bright crimson wad of blood onto the tiles. “Bring the traitorous bitch in here.” He cried out as Reno's foot connected with his kidneys, a white hot flare of agony erupting within him.

Before the pain had even begun to fade, the redhead had squatted beside him and yanked his head back by the hair. The Turk's aqua eyes seemed to almost glow with fury. “I guess I didn't carve enough on your back when we were at your little hideout. Or maybe I should have went ahead and taken your balls.” Darkin returned the glare, sneering at him, and Reno suddenly smashed the terrorist's face into the floor. Dark blooms spread across his vision, yet the release of unconsciousness wouldn't come.

Reno wasn't that merciful.

“Enough,” a voice said, and Reno, who had been reaching for Darkin's hair again suddenly stood at the implicit command. The voice, Darkin knew, belonged to Rufus Shinra, who was now standing safely outside the bars of Darkin's cell. “We don't want him dead, Reno. Not yet, at least.”

Though the tone of his voice didn't betray it, Rufus was very displeased. From the reports his Turks had given him about the manner in which Darkin had behaved when they rescued Kerri, he had expected the man to be a weakling, a coward. This had turned out not to be the case. It was plain to see where Kerri had gotten her strength, her fearlessness, and her stubborn nature. No, the man had submitted at that time because he knew resistance would have gotten him nowhere.

“What now, boss?” Reno's tone, in sharp contrast to that of the young president, wasn't emotionless. It was filled with the hatred of an angry lover. Darkin had given another man permission to rape Reno's woman. The woman who shared Reno's bed, the woman who awoke in that bed at night in terror, her hand shoved into her mouth to hold back screams. A couple of times she had bitten herself hard enough to draw blood. At these times Reno tended her wounds, then lay back down with her cradled on his chest, murmuring softly to her until she went back to sleep. During the day, she was able to stay calm, to handle what had happened to her. Nights, well, nights had been hell for both her and Reno. For her because she was defenseless against the nightmares, for him because it broke his heart to know that she was reliving the attack in her dreams.

“What now indeed?” Rufus mused, bringing Reno sharply back to the present. They both studied the bloody, battered man on the floor. Darkin had managed to turn over onto his back, and lay panting as deeply as his broken ribs would allow. He had to breathe through his mouth, since Reno had broken his nose, as well as one cheekbone. His eyes were swollen shut; the fact that they looked so like Kerri's had infuriated Reno, so he had closed them. Darkin cradled his balls, which were more than likely ruptured now, with one hand. “I think we should allow him to speak to Kerri. What do you think, Reno?”

“I think that should be up to her,” Reno replied. “We shouldn't let this piece of shit call the shots.”

“Of course,” Rufus agreed. “It should be up to her. This man has forced enough on her, wouldn't you agree, Darkin?”

“I forced nothing on her,” the man rasped. “I barely knew the bitch.” He screamed this time when Reno kicked him in his already injured testicles.

“You left her to be raped and brutalized. Your own flesh and blood. You may as well have hopped on after Vertro was through with her,” Reno snarled. “So don't you call her a bitch, and don't you call her your daughter again. There are men in this prison who have children, and some of them would be more than happy to do to you what your bitch Vertro did to her.”

For the first time, Darkin's control slipped and a flash of fear flickered across his face. “Just bring her here. I'll talk to her. The rest of you, you're wasting your time.”

“Oh, I don't know about that, Darkin,” Rufus replied. “I do not believe that any of the Turks consider it a waste of time to torture a man that hurt one of their own. And you may want to keep in mind that they are quite...imaginative.”

“You got that right, yo,” Reno said, a cold smile playing about his lips.

Rufus produced a key from his pocket and unlocked the cell door. “Come, Reno. Playtime is over. For now.” Reno exited the cell, and stood patiently while Rufus relocked it. Once it was done, the young president silently handed over Reno's EMR. Rufus hadn't allowed him to take it into the prisoner's cell, afraid the hotheaded young man would find the temptation to kill the man with it too great to resist. Even without his weapon, Rufus had found it necessary to call Reno off several times, or he would have killed Darkin with his bare hands.

Back at Shin-Ra Headquarters,in the elevator, Rufus asked, “Do you think you can convince Kerri to speak with Darkin?”

“I can try, sir. I think it would do her good to face him, you know? I think she'll do it. Kerri's got a lot of guts, yo.” Reno's pride in her was obvious, and Rufus twitched one corner of his mouth upwards in a half smile.

The elevator stopped at the apartment levels, and Rufus held the door open for a few moments after Reno stepped off. “That's well, then. There is clearly an informant at the Military Academy, and it is vital that we find out who. There is no other way that Darkin would have known that Kerri was a Turk. I will not tolerate traitors in my company.”

Reno nodded. “I'll convince her, sir. Somehow I doubt it'll take much to do it. After all, she's got a score to settle with him.”

Rufus tipped his blond head back in satisfaction. “I am counting on you, then. Goodbye, Reno.” He allowed the doors to close, and Reno turned and headed to his apartment, where Kerri was waiting for him.

“Is that you, Reno?” she called from the kitchen when he opened the door.

“Who else would it be?” he asked, amused, and was glad to hear her answering laugh. He hadn't heard it enough lately, and he loved the sound of it even more than he did the first time he'd heard it.

She appeared in the kitchen doorway, immediately noticing the blood ground into his knuckles and staining his clothes. Her smile stayed on, however, and her only comment was, “You need a shower.”

Reno looked down at himself and grimaced. “Guess you're right about that. Care to join me?” he asked, leering at her.

Looking pointedly at his bloody hands, she said, “Maybe next time. Is that okay?”

“I'll hold you to that, babe,” he replied. “I'll just be a few minutes. Then there's something important I need to talk to you about.”

“What is it?” she asked. “Is it about Darkin?” Kerri knew very well where the bloodstains he was wearing had come from, and felt no remorse whatsoever.

Reno shook his head. “Not now. We'll talk later.” She nodded in agreement, and Reno went to give her a peck on the lips before heading to the bathroom, careful not to touch her with his bloody hands.

As soon as he had turned around, though, she said, “He wants to talk to me, doesn't he?”

Reno hesitated for a moment, turning to look at her over his shoulder. She was a million miles away from stupid. “Yeah, babe. He does. I'll fill you in when I get out of the shower. All right?”

“All right, Reno,” she said. “But I can tell you now that I'll speak with him. If only so I can spit in his face.”

Reno chuckled. “That's about what I thought you'd say, yo. You're still my stubborn little bitch.”