Thanks for the memories

“Thanks for the Memories”
A Reno fanfiction
Chapter 13: “Curiosity (almost) killed the fox”
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*Disclaimer: The world that this story is set in and all characters therein belong to Square-Enix. This fiction piece is strictly a non-profit exercise of creativity and entertainment for people (like me) who can’t get enough of this world and the characters.*
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It took a while, but after a while Rufus and Rude got more comfortable with each other and the three of us started messing around together sometimes, instead of separately. They never fucked each other but they took turns on me a lot and they weren’t shy about giving each other oral. I think they were both still too proud to bottom and there was no telling when one of ‘em would cave and take the hit. I was too happy to push them to do more, yo. Tseng and Rude slept together after a while and I was fine with that. I just hated having to wait for my twentieth birthday to be with Tseng and I always felt a little bad when I had my threesomes with Rufus and Rude, because I felt like Tseng was being left out. He was a lot more patient than I was, though.

I guess the average vanilla person would think our relationship was pretty fucked up. Society pushes monogamy and hetero relationships, so by those rules the four of us were guilty of committing two “crimes” against “decency”. Know what? Society can blow me, yo. I’m not stingy with my affection and I don’t care if that makes me look like a man whore or not.

After taking a few weeks off, Tseng took up leadership if the Turks again and I was kind of relieved. I wasn’t really ready for the responsibility, yo. Months passed and we never found Genesis or Hollander. Hojo took what was left of Jenova out of the reactor and had it moved to ShinRa HQ. That creeped me out, yo. I didn’t like working in the building knowing that thing was in there with me. It drove Sephiroth insane—at least that’s what I thought at the time—and it made me uneasy to be anywhere near it. My birthday came around but I didn’t get to celebrate it right away. The President sent me and Rude to check up on the progress of the rebuilt Nibelheim and make sure Hojo’s “cloning” experiment was still under control like his people there reported.

I wasn’t looking forward to the mission, yo. Everything about that place made my skin crawl—not just because of what happened there almost a year before. We were supposed to stay out of the ShinRa mansion, which only made the temptation to sneak in there and look around harder to resist.

~********************************~

After they touched down in the helicopter, Rude and Reno walked into town. The buildings looked exactly the same as they had before the disaster. ShinRa had worked fast to rebuild it and quell any chance that the world outside would hear of the disaster. Reno felt the hair rise on the back of his neck as they approached.

“Hey partner, do you believe the reports that said there weren’t any survivors?” Reno asked before they were within earshot of any “townsfolk”.

Rude looked at him sidelong and straightened his tie uncomfortably. “I never thought about it.”

Reno’s blue-green eyes studied the buildings and the looming mansion in the distance suspiciously. “I’m just sayin’, I don’t think it’s likely that everyone got killed, yo. There’s something about this whole setup that’s always bothered me. They wanted to keep the incident hushed up, so if there WERE survivors, what do you think they did with ‘em, man?”

Rude’s jaw tensed. “Keep your mind on the mission, partner. You’re high ranking now and you should know a Turk’s job is to follow orders.”

Reno frowned at the bald man. “Yeah, well…sometimes questioning orders makes for some good results.”

Rude stopped and reached out to put his hands on the redhead’s shoulders, turning him to face him. “Or it can get you killed. Reno, you got picked for second in command because you can think outside the box. You can improvise when a mission goes bad, better than anyone else. That doesn’t mean you should go looking for trouble and that’s what you’re going to find if you don’t let this go. Come on man, let’s just do our jobs and get the hell out of here.”

Reno stared at him, realizing that this place spooked his partner just as much as it spooked him. Rude was worrying about him getting in over his head with his curiosity. “Okay Rude, you win. I’ll shut up about it and we can just finish up and go.”

Rude nodded and let go of him, his tension faded.

~*********************************~

They spoke to the undercover ShinRa employees, asking the questions they’d been told to ask, investigating the buildings inside and out for anything out of the ordinary and getting a water sample from the well in the center of town, to have it analyzed for pollutants or possible Mako taint.

“This is taking longer than I thought it would,” Reno sighed as they paused outside the path leading into the ShinRa mansion.

“Yeah, I’m getting hungry,” complained the bald man. “I wonder if the food at the Inn’s any good.”

“Why don’t you go grab us a table, yo,” Reno suggested as his own stomach growled in sympathy. “I’ll finish up checking out the power generator while you’re doing that.”

“Sounds good,” Rude agreed. “See you in a few.”

Reno watched his partner walk away and he started toward the town’s power generator. He meant to just do his job and go, he really did. The mansion caught his eye and he slowly turned to look at it. The dark windows were like eyes watching him and he shivered involuntarily and ran his fingers through his vivid, fluffed hair.

~Just don’t think about it, Reno. There’s nothing but trouble in that place, like Rude said.~

Despite his mind’s warnings, his feet began to slowly step toward the broken iron gates that inefficiently blocked the path leading to the huge front doors of the building. His mind went to the day they got the news and his thoughts turned to Zackary Fair. Supposedly the black-haired fighter had been mortally wounded and taken into the bowels of the mansion. What if he was still in there?

Reno had liked Zack well enough, but his reasons for wondering what ever really happened to him was as much provoked by an unhealthy curiosity about the things his organization got up to as it was for the Soldier’s well-being. Hell, even if Zack wasn’t in there, Reno knew damned well he’d find something interesting if he explored that basement.

He glanced around casually to see if anyone was nearby. Seeing that the coast was clear, the redhead walked to the iron gates and squeezed through the gap. He hurried up the path to the double doors and tried the handles. They were locked, but Reno shrugged and reached into his blazer for his pocketknife. He checked again for any witnesses before kneeling in front of the doors and working at the lock with his knife.

“Rude’s gonna kick my ass if he finds out about this,” he muttered to himself as he listened for the sound of the mechanism springing. “But I can stop worrying about it after this and he’ll never have to hear me mention it again.” The lock clicked and he put the tool knife back in his pocket. He stood up, brushed his pants off and pushed the right door open just wide enough to slip through. It creaked eerily on rusty hinges and he winced and peered around to be sure the sound didn’t attract any passersby. He went in and shut the door behind him.

The musky air made his nose wrinkle and he looked around at the dim interior of the building and considered his options. There were several wings he could explore, as well as a second level. He was looking for the entrance to the basement, so logically he thought he should stick to the ground floor. He reached for his penlight and clicked it on. It wasn’t very bright but it helped him see where he was going. He took a wing on the left side first and checked through all of the rooms, finding nothing of interest. He did the same with another wing and again had no results.

Reno had almost finished investigating the bottom floor when his cell phone rang, startling him so bad he dropped his little flashlight. He picked it up and pulled his cell out, grimacing when he saw his partner’s name on the ID.

“Yo Rude,” he greeted when he put the phone to his ear.

“What’s keeping you, man?” Rude asked.

“Sorry, I’m having a little trouble with this generator,” Reno lied. “It might be a while, yo. Why don’t you just order something to eat and I’ll get something when I finish?”

Rude sighed. “Okay. I guess I’ll do that.”

“I’ll try to hurry it up,” Reno said.

He turned off the phone and replaced it, scratching his head as he looked around. ~There’s gotta be a way into the fucking basement somewhere in this place! Maybe I’m going about this all the wrong way. When it comes to anything built by ShinRa, nothing’s simple.~

He was getting frustrated and tired but he was determined to check the second floor before giving up. He doubted he’d find anything but his stubborn curiosity wouldn’t allow him to call it quits until he ruled out all possibilities. He got halfway up the stairs when he put his foot through a step. Swearing and grunting, he pulled his leg free and moved with more caution. A search on the second floor and through all of the rooms revealed nothing. He sighed and shook his head, looking around the room he stood in.

“Fuck it, yo,” he muttered. He knew for a fact there was a lab in the basement here but obviously the entrance was so well concealed, only the people working on Hojo’s project knew where it was. He pulled out his pack of cloves and selected one, then brought it to his lips and lit it. Reno inhaled the sweet, spicy smoke and leaned against the stone wall, closing his eyes and regretting the amount of time he’d wasted. He felt the wall shift under his back and he yelped and lurched away from it, spinning around and bringing his EMR to bear. A panel was sliding open in the wall with a grinding noise.

“You’re shitting me,” the redhead rasped, staring with wide eyes as the concealed door grinded to a halt. He stepped forward cautiously, brandishing his weapon with one hand and his penlight with the other. Peeking in, he could see a winding, wooden ramp set into the walls of the wide, round shaft behind the entrance. The ramp spiraled down into cool, black depths and Reno swallowed at the thought of going down there.

~Yo, I’ve come this far without any real problems. You’d think if there was some super secret experiment going on in here there’d at least be some guards or something. Maybe Hojo’s cut his project after all and all I’ll find at the bottom is a dusty, empty lab. But hey, everyone in this town now works for ShinRa, so maybe they just don’t think they need guards. Most people wouldn’t be crazy enough to keep going.~

But, Reno wasn’t “most people” and he’d been accused before of being crazy—if not reckless. Mustering his nerve, he put out his cigarette, stepped through the doorway and made his way down the ramp. It seemed to go on and on; he peered over the side at one point, got dizzy and had to press his back against the wall and stop for a moment. When the spell passed, he pressed on. As an afterthought, he pulled his cellphone out and turned it off. If there WERE guards or scientists working down at the bottom, he’d need stealth and quiet. It would be just his luck for Rude to call again and get him caught.

He finally reached the bottom and he had a look around. The foot of the ramp was at the end of a long, earthen tunnel reinforced with wooden beams. There were lit lanterns lining the walls, providing enough light for him to see without his flashlight. He put it away and started down the tunnel, keeping his ears perked for any sound. As he covered some distance, he could see a door far at the end of the tunnel, with light spilling out from under the crack. Very faintly, he could hear people moving around and talking behind it.

~Here’s where it gets risky. If I go up to it and try to look through the keyhole or listen in, someone could come along and open it and I’ll have to jump behind those storage casks pretty fucking fast to keep hidden.~

Reno was a risk-taker though, so the possibility of discovery didn’t deter his hunger for information. He didn’t get far before he noticed another door with a brick wall set into it on the left side of the tunnel. He stopped and regarded it curiously. He could see very dim light under the crack but he didn’t hear any sounds from within the mystery room. Maybe it was a supply room or a file room? That possibility prompted him to pull out his tool knife and get to work on the lock. It was harder to open than the front door lock had been, due to rust. After a few minutes he finally forced the mechanism to release and he pushed the door open and slipped inside, leaving it cracked behind him in case he needed to make a hasty retreat.

What he found in the small, cobweb-decked room confused the hell out of him.

“A coffin? What the fuck?” Reno stared at the black, oblong box with a frown. It had layers of dust on it, which meant it hadn’t been disturbed for a long time. He thought he heard a faint shuffle in the tunnel outside but he’d seen bats clinging to the ceiling on his way in, so he assumed it was just one of the animals relocating itself. He approached the coffin and felt goosebumps rise on his skin. He hesitated for a moment but told himself he’d seen enough death that the sight of a withered skeleton shouldn’t scare him.

~Besides, this might answer my question about whether Fair really croaked or not, yo. I might find him in there.~

The thought gave him pause. Did he really want to see the handsome Soldier’s decomposed, dried up corpse? He couldn’t turn into a chickenshit now, though. Anything could be in there and whatever it was might give him some answers. He grasped the lid of the coffin and groaned softly with effort as he forced it open. It resisted at first but after he lifted it a couple of inches it gave more.

When it was fully opened, he looked inside and went still with shock. There was a body in the coffin all right, but it was in unreasonably good condition. The pale young man lying with his forearms crossed over his chest looked like he was newly dead. One of his hands wasn’t a hand at all, but a golden, metallic claw. His tall form was clothed in some sort of leather body armor and a ragged, red cloak. He had beautiful, Wutaian features and long black hair. He vaguely reminded Reno of Tseng and the Turk sighed softly.

“I don’t know how you managed to stay so pristine,” Reno whispered to the corpse, “but it’s a damn shame something so pretty is dead. Hmph…wonder what they did to keep you so fresh. You don’t even smell dead.”

Two things happened then. First, the corpse’s eyes snapped open and focused on the Turk, blazing a hellish red color in the dim lantern light. Reno’s mouth fell open with startled shock and he went almost as pale as the “dead” man. The door behind him swung open and he heard a gurgling, disturbing laugh. Reno turned to look and he found himself staring up at a creature straight out of nightmares. It was bipedal and humanoid in anatomy, but its fingers were freakishly elongated and it had two heads that were anything but human in appearance. Both heads had small, glowing eyes, no nose to speak of and lipless mouths with razor-sharp teeth.


Reno heard a little girl scream and he was chagrined to realize the sound came from him as the monster reached for him. He was in such a state of shock that he wasn’t fast enough to dodge away and the monster’s abnormally long fingers closed over his left forearm and yanked. Pain flared in his shoulder socket as the creature threw him against the wall by the door. He thought at first that the creature had ripped his arm right out of the socket, but it was still attached and dangling weirdly.

~Dislocated…fuck…I’ve gotta move!~

Both of the monster’s heads gurgled and giggled as it advanced on Reno again. The Turk slipped out the door, groaning in pain as he charged his EMR and slammed it down on one of his attacker’s hands when the creature gripped the doorframe on its way to follow him. The monster hissed and paused, giving Reno a chance to try and run. He didn’t know what in the hell the creature was—he assumed it was one of Hojo’s experiment specimens gotten loose but he wasn’t about to wait around to figure it out. He was hurt and for all he knew the thing coming after him couldn’t be killed through ordinary means.

He didn’t get three feet before the creature caught hold of one of his ankles and tripped him. He rolled onto his back and kicked out at the monster, his hard shoes digging into the spongy flesh. He shouted as the being grabbed him around the waist and threw him against the tunnel wall. The back of his head hit a support beam and he fought to stay conscious. His weapon crackled as he charged it again and narrowed his eyes at the nightmare advancing on him and tried to keep his vision from going blurry. The long limbs were gangly, so he thought that if he could muster enough force and strike in the joints he could cripple it, at least for long enough for him to get away. He thought about yelling for help but that would mean getting caught sneaking around where he was told not to—which might result in his death anyhow.

Before he or the monster could act, a low menacing growl came from behind the creature, near the door to the coffin room.

~Shit, now it’s got a buddy to chow down on me with. I wonder what the guys will say when they found out I ended up as lunch to some kind of research specimens?~

The two-headed monster either didn’t notice the growl or didn’t care. It began to reach for the panting Turk again, but something happened that made it stop. There was a rending sound and black blood splattered to the floor. The creature made an odd, gurgling sound of pain with both heads and turned around to face its new attacker. Reno could see four deep gouges in the creature’s mottled back, slashing diagonally from shoulder-blade to hip. He inched along the tunnel wall toward the end of the tunnel where the ramp led back up, hoping that the two-headed monster and its new competitor would keep each other busy long enough for him to escape.

The two-headed creature shrieked in challenge and Reno saw what had attacked it for the first time. It was a beast that looked to Reno like some sort of werewolf, only it had two long, curving horns sprouting out of its head on the top. It had glowing yellow eyes, ebony fur covering its body and a long, shaggy silver mane of hair sprouting from its head. It stood on two legs but it was hunched a bit. The new beast roared at the two-headed creature and lunged at it. Reno had to dodge out of the way as the two combating monsters went down in a tangle of limbs, fangs and claws where he’d been standing.

Reno started lurching toward the exit but something made him pause and look back. The werewolf creature had gotten the upper hand but the two-headed creature wasn’t going down easily. He turned off his EMR and reached for his gun. He aimed at the two-headed monster, not knowing why he was doing it when the werewolf was likely to tear his throat out as soon as the fight was over. There was just something about the beast that caught his attention…something almost human. He waited for a clear shot and when he got one, he put three bullets in the two-headed beast. The gunfire weakened the monster enough for the werewolf to finish it off.

Reno wasn’t going to wait around. As soon as the two-headed monster stopped moving, he stumbled for the exit as fast as he could. He heard clawed feet closing the distance behind him and he swore. ~Great move, dumbass. Now you’re gonna be kibble!~

The werewolf creature was fast. It ran right past the injured Turk and cut in front of him, blocking his retreat. Reno backed away from it, putting his back to the tunnel wall as it closed in. “Uh, nice wolfy,” Reno gasped as the beast’s muzzle drew so close that its hot breath was blowing against his neck and chest. He licked his lips nervously as the amber eyes studied him with an intelligence surpassing a mere beast. He didn’t move, encouraged that it wasn’t growling at him or tearing his throat out. It seemed…curious.

“So you weren’t after me, right?” Reno said in a weak voice. He tensed when the beast’s muzzle pressed against his chest and began to sniff, and jumped when the probing nose goosed him a little in the ribs. “H-hey, I’m ticklish. Don’t do that, okay?”

The great head raised and the golden eyes regarded him studiously for a few heartbeats. Abruptly, the beast backed away from Reno, turned around and padded back down the tunnel. The redhead was too petrified to do anything except watch the creature warily. It went into the side room where he’d found the coffin and he grimaced as he listened for sounds of screaming. There was nothing…except the sound of the door at the very end of the long tunnel opening. He didn’t know if the people in that room had heard the ruckus or if they were leaving at the end of a shift, but he couldn’t afford to find out.

“Time to blow this taco stand!” Reno no longer had any interest in seeing the secret lab or finding out what was really going on there. He needed to get out before he got caught, get Rude and get back to HQ to see a doctor.

~***********************************~

Rude was finished with his meal by the time he saw his partner coming into the Inn. He stood up abruptly at the sight of the redhead. Reno was as pale as a ghost and he was holding his left arm with his right. His lips were twisted in pain and his eyes were wide and dilated. The bald man met him half way and helped him to the table, disliking the glazed look in his sea-green eyes.

“What the hell happened to you, man?” Rude whispered.

Reno looked at him and almost blurted that there were demons in the mansion, but he was aware that they were in the company of undercover ShinRa employees and any reference to the mansion would get him in serious trouble. “I had to climb up to the top of the power generator to check out the meter,” he said in a strained voice, “my foot slipped and my arm got caught on the ladder rungs. I think my shoulder’s dislocated, yo.”

Rude gently eased his partner’s hand away from his shoulder and probed. Reno gasped raggedly and went even paler, and Rude immediately stopped and supported him around his uninjured side when his knees started to buckle.

“Easy, partner,” Rude murmured solicitously. “It’s dislocated, all right. We’d better get you back to have it looked at. Sit down while I pay the bill, so we can get the hell out of here.”

Reno nodded and sank into the chair his lover pulled out. Rude patted his right shoulder supportively before heading to the counter to pay for the meal he’d eaten.

“Does he need to have someone here look at him?” The cashier asked Rude, having overheard the conversation. Other people were watching the redhead as well.

“We’ll do that at Headquarters,” Rude said, “Pack me one of those cold deli sandwiches to go, will you? Also, where can I buy some pain medicine to give him until we get home?”

The cashier leaned a little closer to the big man and murmured, “Just go to the pharmacy across the street and show them your ID badge when you ask for it. The Company will cover it.”

Rude nodded. “Thanks. Oh, let me get a couple of sodas, too.”

~**************************************~

Reno was still as white as a sheet when they walked out of town to the waiting chopper. Rude kept an arm around his partner and studied him with concern. There was something more than he’d told him and he could feel the lingering fear radiating from the redhead. He said nothing until they got into the helicopter.

“Here, take these,” Rude said as he shook out a couple of pain pills from the bottle the pharmacist had given him. Reno wordlessly took the tablets from his hand and Rude opened a can of soda and waited for his partner to put the pills into his mouth before handing it to him. Reno washed the medicine down with a grimace and took a few long swallows from the drink. Rude stretched over and carefully secured the redhead in his seatbelt, then did the same for himself.

“Think you can fly with that arm?” Rude asked, wondering if he could be of any help without crashing them.

Reno nodded. “I might have to get you to push a few buttons for me now and then, yo. The stick’s easy enough to handle.”

Rude nodded and watched as the smaller man leaned his head back against the seat and panted with pain. “So what really happened to your arm, baby?” He asked softly. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

“I didn’t see nuthin’, and neither did you,” Reno said.

Rude frowned. “Of course I didn’t see anything. I wasn’t there when it happened. You saw something though.”

Reno frowned, but he knew that Rude wouldn’t be pushing if he wasn’t really concerned. “Don’t lecture me, alright? I went into the ShinRa mansion.”

Rude sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, but he didn’t lecture…yet.

“I found the door to the basement,” Reno went on, closing his eyes in pain. “I went down there and found a huge tunnel, with a door at the far end of it. I’m pretty sure the lab’s back there. I was gonna check it out but I found a little side room on the way and I picked the lock to have a look in there.” He paused and turned his head toward the bald man, opening his eyes and regarding him with a stern look. “Don’t laugh when you hear this, man. I couldn’t make it up if I tried.”

Rude furrowed his brow and nodded. He knew Reno could embellish a bit on a story and make things more sensational than they really were, but he could tell the redhead wasn’t in the mood for entertaining him. “Go on,” he said.

“I found a fucking coffin in there. First thing I thought was maybe Fair was in it. It looked like it hadn’t been bothered in a while. So I opened it—“

“You opened the coffin?” Rude interrupted with a grimace. “Why the hell would you—“

“I told ya, I wanted to see who or what was in it, yo.” Reno shifted and winced. “As I was saying, I opened the coffin and found a body in it all right, but it wasn’t Zack and it looked like it was totally fresh. It was some Wutaian guy and he wasn’t as dead as I thought.”

“Excuse me?” Rude said with raised eyebrows.

“The guy woke up and looked at me, man! I swear, his eyes were blood red, too. Then I heard something behind me and…” Reno told his partner about the whole encounter and when he was finished, Rude sat silent and pensive. “See, I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” Reno said sourly.

“I didn’t say I don’t believe it,” Rude murmured. The sun was starting to go down, so he took his shades off and put them in his jacket pocket. He looked at Reno with contemplative brown eyes. “We both know they’re doing experiments in that place. Hojo’s more than a little twisted and with someone like him running the show, nothing surprises me.”

Reno relaxed a little and licked dry lips, closing his eyes again and leaning back. “We should get going, yo. This pain medication’s going to make me drowsy and I need to get us in the air and on course before that happens. You think you know enough about flying to keep an eye on things once I set the auto-pilot, partner?”

“Yeah,” Rude said. “Let’s get you to headquarters so we can have you looked at.”

“What are you gonna say in the report?” Reno asked.

Rude frowned. “You’re my partner, Red. We’ll stick with the ladder story. I’m not risking your ass for protocol.”

Reno gave him a weak smile. “Teddy bear.”

Rude grumbled something and Reno chuckled and started the chopper up.

~**********************************~

The President demanded a report immediately when they landed, so Reno had to wait to see his injuries treated. As they walked down the wing leading to the President’s office, Rude noticed his partner stumble and he quickly put an arm around his waist and supported him. Too concerned to resist, he stroked the redhead’s hair and Reno yelped when his fingers inadvertently pressed against the bump on the back of his head.

“You didn’t say anything about a head injury,” Rude lectured as he carefully ran his fingertips over the prominent bump. “Fuck, let’s get this over with fast. Just lean on me, baby.”

The debriefing went quickly and both Turks lied convincingly enough about the cause of Reno’s injuries that President Shinra didn’t suspect a thing. As soon as they left the office, Reno went pale again and leaned against the wall, panting softly and clutching his dangling arm.

“That’s it,” Rude said firmly, “put your good arm around my neck, Red.”

Reno was in too much pain and too nauseous to argue. He draped his right arm around Rude’s neck, his EMR bouncing against the bald man’s shoulder. Rude put one arm around the back of his shoulders and the other under the back of his legs. He lifted the smaller man and carried him toward the elevator. The doors opened as they approached and there stood none other than Rufus and Tseng, evidently on their way to see the President as well.

“What’s all this?” Rufus said as he stepped out of the elevator, his gray eyes fixed on Reno’s pallid form.

“He got hurt on the job,” Rude explained as evenly as his concern allowed him to. “The President wanted a report before he went to the med lab.”

Rufus’ eyes went hard like chips of ice. “Did he.”

“I tripped on a ladder checking out the power generator—“ Reno began automatically, but Rufus cut him off.

“Save it for later, Reno. You can tell me all about it after you’ve been treated. I’ve got to have a word with my ‘father’.”

Tseng placed a placating hand on Rufus’s shoulder. “Reacting in anger won’t solve anything, Sir. It could even make things harder on Reno, if you storm into the President’s office and confront him.”

Rufus sighed and looked at the Wutaian with a mixture of annoyance and respect. “Must you do that all of the time?”

Tseng’s dark eyes smiled at him but his face remained impassive. “It’s my nature, Sir.”

“Fine,” Rufus said almost petulantly. He reached out and briefly touched Reno’s pale cheek. To Rude, he said: “Take care of him. I want the medical report as soon as they’re finished and I’ll give him time off accordingly.”

Rude nodded respectfully. “Sir.”

~**************************************~

Turns out I had a mild concussion on top of the dislocated shoulder. When they popped my shoulder back in I threw up all over Rude’s designer shoes. The big guy was so damned worried about me he hardly even noticed, yo. They put me on a heavy dose of pain and nausea pills and Rude took me home and called Ma. She came over and between the two of them, they babied the living hell out of me until I was ready to blow my brains out.

The head injury healed faster than the shoulder. I had to wear my left arm in a sling for a few weeks to keep it mobilized and let the muscles tighten up again. I was kind of thankful when Rude and Ma finally stopped squatting at my house after a few days and gave me some peace, but I hardly got a day to myself before Rufus showed up at my apartment.

~********************************~

“Hey boss, come on in.” Reno smiled at the VP, glad to see him in person again despite being relieved to have his home to himself once more. Unlike his mother and partner, Rufus wasn’t the babying type.

“You look like yourself again, Fox,” Rufus said as he walked through the threshold, “I trust you’re healing well?”

“Yes, Sir,” Reno answered, shutting the door behind his lover. “Want a drink?”

“Thanks, no. I came to speak with you about your report.” Rufus’s eyes were piercing on him and Reno shifted uncomfortably.

“What about it, boss?” Reno had learned that while he could fool most other people, his lovers knew his body too well to be completely convinced by deception.

“I can believe that you slipped on the rung of the ladder, hit your head and dislocated your arm,” Rufus said smoothly, “But I know you, Fox. You’ve expressed more than a mild interest in what goes on in that mansion and I find it a little too convenient that you had an attack of clumsiness on the very same mission that presented you with the opportunity to explore.”

Rufus walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, relaxing comfortably in it as he gazed up at the redhead with probing eyes. “There was more to your behavior upon returning than pain, Reno. I need to know exactly what you saw—and don’t lie to me.”

Reno bit his lip. ~Damn! I should have known.~ Aloud, he asked: “Mind if I grab a beer first? Every time I think about it I get the chills, yo.”

“Go right ahead. Now that you mention it, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll have one as well.” Rufus said.

Reno started toward the kitchen and the VP suddenly stood up and followed him. “Wait,” Rufus murmured, “You’ve only got the use of one arm. Go and sit down and I’ll get them.”

“You don’t have to—“ Reno started, only to be interrupted by a swift, demanding kiss from the blonde.

“Shush,” Rufus murmured. “I’m perfectly capable of getting my own drink and while the sight of you struggling to carry two beers with one hand may prove entertaining, it might lead to alcohol waste.”

Reno smirked and shrugged, refreshed that Rufus’s reasons were as practical as they were compassionate. He went into the living room and relaxed on the couch as much as he was able. Minutes later, the blonde joined him and sat beside him. Reno thanked him as he took his beer and he boldly sidled closer to him, though Rufus had been all business aside from that kiss. Rufus put an arm around him and took a drink.

“Now then,” Rufus said after swallowing, “tell me what happened.”

Reno told him and just as with Rude, he expected an incredulous look, laughter or insinuation that he was under too much stress. Just as with Rude, the VP took him seriously and didn’t laugh at his story. Rufus listened with attentive eyes and when Reno was finished, he finished his beer and set it on the coffee table and held the redhead’s eyes.

“This incident will stay between the four of us,” he said. “Stick to your fabricated story and I want you to stay away from that mansion until you’re told otherwise by myself or Tseng, understood?”

Reno nodded. “No problem, boss. I’ve got no interest in going back there after that, yo.”

“Good,” Rufus said. “We’ll get our answers but we must be discreet, while my father’s in power.” He leaned in and kissed the redhead lingeringly. Reno tried to initiate more but the blonde refused. “When you’ve recovered,” he promised.

~******************************~

A week after the investigation at Nibelheim, Reno was called into work. His arm was still in a sling but he was anxious for some action again. He only hoped it wasn’t paperwork. He took a cab to headquarters and made his way to Rufus’s office, his uniform properly arranged for once. When he was buzzed in and stepped through the door, he found himself in a dark room.

“What the hell—“ Reno began, only to have his wits half-startled out of him when the lights came on suddenly and the sound of plastic horns and cranks assaulting his ears. He blinked as several of his fellow Turks were revealed in the light, including Rude and Tseng—who stood on either side of Rufus. Cissnei pounced on him from the left and gave him a hug around the neck.

“Happy birthday, Reno!” The deceptively petite brunette gave him a kiss on the cheek and fit a ridiculous, golden paper crown over his head.

“What the fuck?” Reno said, staring at the banner draped across the ceiling in the middle of the room. It read: “Happy twentieth birthday, Reno”.

Rufus, Tseng and Rude moved aside to reveal the VP’s desk. Sitting on the desk was a birthday cake and several bottles of champagne. Reno approached slowly, stunned by the whole affair. When he saw the lettering on the cake, he laughed.

“Twenty years of mischief”, it said.

Tseng poured a glass of champagne and handed it to Reno, while Rude lit the candles on the cake.

“Make a wish, Reno,” Cissnei prompted as the redhead bent over the cake.

Reno thought about it. “Hmm, I’ve already got pretty much everything I ever wanted,” he said. Then he glanced swiftly at Tseng. “Almost, anyhow. What the hell, it couldn’t hurt.” He blew out the candles and everyone clapped, blew their horns or twirled their noisemakers. Cissnei began to cut the cake, while Rufus lifted his glass for a toast.

“To your health, Reno,” the VP said with a crooked smile.

Everyone drank and Tseng shifted closer to the redhead. “So Reno,” he murmured softly, “do you think that your wish might come true?”

Reno winked at the Wutaian. “That depends on a certain someone, yo.”

~***********************************~

-To be continued