Tseng's Company

Chapter 11

"...You gonna be okay?"

"Fuck... somebody fetch me a whisky."

Laughter. Who was that laughing? Damn assholes, invading my sleep. Can't a guy have a nap without being harassed by people? And why in hell did my back ache so bad? What in god's name had I been up to last night?

"Don't worry. He'll be fine now he's come round, and his wound's been healing quite nicely these past few days."

Woah! Wound? What fucking wound? I didn't remember gettin' no wound. I didn't really want to open my eyes: I felt like I had a hangover the size of Midgar plate, and whatever I'd been upto last night had left me with an unbelievable backache. Whoever she'd been, she must've been good because I felt fucking exhausted. I opened an eye...and then shut it again as unwelcome light shone through at me. Oh who in the hell had opened my curtains? Didn't they know when Reno goes out drinkin' he always has a hangover next day?

"And when will he be able to come back to work?"

...Okay lets just hold everything here. That was Tseng's voice. Why in god's name was Tseng in my bedroom? My heart jumped for a moment and I grinned. Had he...? No, no way I would've remembered that. I forced myself to open my eyes, letting the sunlight through onto my pupils with an annoyed grunt as I tried to adjust my vision.

"He had a nasty electric shock Tseng, but the Mako fluid seems to be doing its job. Give him a few days and he should be out of bed. A week or so and he'll be well enough to go back to work."

"What the hell you yappin' 'bout? Where the hell am I?" I moaned. So far I'd figured I wasn't in my own bed. For one thing the air didn't smell of rotten pizza and cheap aftershave. It smelled clean, like a hospital maybe? My eyes focused finally to see...ah, Tseng leaning over the bedside with what could have been anxiety lurking somewhere in that expression. In a flash I remembered everything: going down to the slums, the fight with the Max brothers...being stuck in the goddamn back with my electro rod. I coughed in sympathy with myself and stared up at Tseng.

"Morning princess... how's the wound?"

"I feel like fuck." Eloquent Reno...real eloquent. Tseng smirked down at me and nodded, as though answering a question someone had asked him. "How's the arm?" I remembered Max bringing the crowbar on Tseng's arm suddenly, and Tseng showed me he now had a huge cast over it and I couldn't help but flinch in sympathy.

"If you think that's bad, you ought to see your back. It looks like something gone wrong in Hojo's lab."

Gee, thanks' Tseng. What a comfort this guy was. I suppose that was a joke meant to make me feel better but it just made me wanna throw up. Yeah I know, what a wuss I am. I looked around the room sleepily. Rude was also here, leaning against the far wall with his arms folded like a hard man. I squinted and let a lopsided smile form on my face.

"Hey man."

Reno grunted in manly acknowledgement.

"Didn't know if you were gonna wake up."

"Aw, were ya worried about me?" I grinned. The silence said it all, and Rude turned and looked out the window, trying to hide the fact that he actually was. Triumph spread across my face as one of the nurses came to check the flow of green liquid being pumped into my arm. A miracle, Mako technology: sucking weird green stuff from the earth that up until just before the war, no one knew existed, and now it was used to power cars, electricity, magic...and more relevant to me right now: could heal. I let the nurse do whatever it was she was doing and looked back up at Tseng.

"So how the hell did we get out of that?"

"Rude came back just at the right time. We taught those two not to fuck with Shinra. They're swimming with the Zoloms in Midgar's sewers just about now."

"I thought I was fucking dying!"

"You were." Said Tseng smoothly, "Or rather, you would have been if I hadn't brought my cure materia with me. You're a prick, Reno, you nearly got us both killed...and you dented my classic '88, messing around. I've docked your wages accordingly, and when you finally stop lying around in this bed you'll be revieving a bill for the bodywork reparations..."

My jaw dropped. Hypocritical, harsh damn bastard! He was the one who drew a gun on one of the Don's cronies, not me. How in the fuck was it my fault? I was about to argue my case when I felt a flow of warmth spread right up my arm as the nurse increased the flow of Mako fluid. I suddenly didn't give a damn about whose fault it was as my brain tingled at the sensation. I grinned wider, and looked up at the nurse with eyes glazed over.

"Better?"

"Hell yeah..." I drawled, and giggled to myself like an idiot. I dont know about mako fluid...from the way I was acting, anyone would've thought they were pumping me full of goddamn alcohol. That image floated in my befuddled brain for a second as I closed my eyes, suddenly insanely tired. I felt Tseng get up from the bed but I subconsciously grabbed for his hand, pulling him back towards me and for some stupid reason just held it there in both hands. If I'd actually known what I was doing I would've let go damn fast, but as it was I felt like my intelligence and reasoning had just dribbled out my ears, leaving me just with the urge to hold Tseng's hand and a damn stupid inane grin on my face as I drifted away.

"Jus' make sur' they pay f' th' elephants." I drawled stupidly as I fell back into unconsciousness, still holding Tseng's smooth hand until he removed it from my grip.

"I've increased the Mako flow. He'll heal quicker, but his body will react to the chemical imbalance like alcohol or a drugs. He'll be fine though."

The last words I heard were Tseng's, as he got up finally and stepped over to the door of my private room. (One perk to the job: private rooms in Shinra Tower's hospital floor. Mostly because President Shinra doesn't want people to know what the hell we do so we're kept seperate as much as possible. Like I said before: Shinra treats the Turks like his bastard sons.)

"Well make sure you ring my office when he comes round properly. Rude?"

And then they left, or rather I think they left. I was too busy grinning inanely in my sleep to notice much. Damn I'm converted. Forget tequila or whiskey...just give me a bag of this stuff and I'd be happy all day.

The next time I woke up was in the middle of the night. I was still pretty out of it, though thankfully the fucking stupid grin had worn off in my sleep. My back still hurt like fuck though, and I groaned as I went to sit up in the bed. It was damn dark, and out the window all I could see was the voluminous cityscape of Midgar and it was freaky to look at it when the rest of the room was in complete darkness. Why had I woken up again? Oh yeah...I needed a drink, or had it been a noise? I stared around the dark room, suddenly aware of how alone I was in here. Jesus Reno stop being such a lameass prick. You aint scared of the dark, and you sure as hell aint afraid of being alone: you've been alone for long enough, so deal with it. Still... I couldn't help but shudder. And then I noticed the shadow sitting in the corner.

It was human shaped, or for fucks sake I hoped it was as it got up and stepped forwards. I grabbed for Lola, which I normally kept under my pillow at home, but Tseng hadn't been thoughtful enough to leave me a gun. My dazed eyes tried to focus on the shadow but the fucking Mako fluid was keeping my senses to a bare minimum. My damn heart was having trouble stopping itself from exploding in anxiety, and I stared confusedly as I made out that it was a tall, well built man standing before me. I thought hopefully for a minute that it might be Tseng. Then the shadow said the words that made me sick to my stomach.

"They told me you'd woken up." Rufus sneered darkly, "You missed our meeting... so I thought I'd come to you."