Thanks for the memories

“Thanks for the Memories”
A Reno fan fiction
Chapter 19: “Meteorfall”
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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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“Rufus!” Reno started forward, risking charging right into flying debris and glass. Rude caught him around the waist and held him tight, pressing him against the wall of a building as sharp scrap metal and glass rained down. Tseng and Elena likewise pressed together.

“Stop it, Red,” Rude grunted as his slim partner tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

“We’ve gotta get to him!” Reno shouted, his emotions making him uncoordinated and clumsy.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Tseng tried to reason, but Reno didn’t want to hear any of it.

“Let go of me!” The redhead shouted against Rude’s chest.

Luckily for Rude his strength at the moment was greater than Reno’s coordination and he kept his partner pinned to the wall firmly until the danger of shrapnel and glass died down. By then, Reno was sagging against him in exhaustion and pain. The smaller man was panting heavily but he wasn’t crying—at least, not outwardly.

There was the sound of sirens as the fire brigade and ShinRa enforcement got to work on the streets to put out flames and rescue trapped civilians. The Turks stood numbly against the wall of the reception building of the airport, each of them struggling with the realization that the President was gone. Tseng was dignified and silent in his grief, while Elena cried softly against his chest. Rude was stoic and supportive of Reno, who was shivering against him and snarling in denial.

Tseng’s phone rang and he reached into his pocket for it with numb fingers and brought it to his ear. “This is Tseng,” he said huskily.

“Tseng, this is Heidegger,” answered a rough voice, “We need backup from the Turks. AVALANCHE is trying to climb the tower and destroy Sister Ray. Get your people here immediately!”

Tseng frowned, wondering why on Gaia Cloud’s group would want to destroy the cannon that could give them a chance to get past Sephiroth’s barrier and stop him. “Are you certain the purpose is to destroy it?” he asked dubiously.

“Yes! Now, get up here and help protect it from these terrorists!” The gruff man hung up without waiting for a response.

Tseng sighed heavily and addressed his fellow Turks. “We’ll have to grieve for Rufus later. Right now there’s a matter that requires our attention. That was Heidegger and apparently Strife and his friends are trying to destroy Sister Ray.”

“Why would they do that?” Rude asked with a frown.

“I…don’t know,” Tseng admitted. “There’s something very strange about this. We need to at least investigate, but don’t act in haste.” He looked at Reno searchingly. “Can you put your feelings aside for now, Kitsune? We need you.” He turned to Elena next, who was wiping her eyes with a handkerchief from her blazer. “You too, Elena. We can’t afford to be weak right now. Can you pull yourself together?”

Reno closed his eyes and nodded, shoving the ache of loss deep down so that he could do his job. “Count on it, yo.” His voice was unsteady but his body was willing.

Elena likewise nodded, sniffling one last time before straightening her shoulders and putting her handkerchief away. “For the Turks,” she said.

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

The Turks didn’t even make it to the tower before running into Strife’s team. The streets had so much debris, firefighting vehicles and roadblocks that they had to take the tunnels to reach the entrance to the tower. They were halfway there when Cloud’s team came around the bend right in front of them. Both groups stopped in their tracks and stared at one another.

“Well, come on,” Elena cried, wanting to take out her aggression on someone, “Let’s go!”

Cloud looked at her with narrowed eyes, then at Reno. Something changed in his expression when he looked at Reno’s face—perhaps he saw the loss in the redhead’s eyes. “Let’s not,” he said with a shrug, sheathing his sword. “I don’t know what you’ve been told but the cannon’s already destroyed the barrier around the crater. Hojo plans to use it now to make a bigger wound in the planet to give Sephiroth more energy.”

The Turks looked at each other uncertainly and one by one, they looked behind them to Tseng, who was holding his side as if it pained him. Tseng looked at Cait Sith. “Is this true?” he questioned. “Can Reeve confirm this?”

“Aye, that he can,” the automated cat answered. “He should be calling ye any minute, in fact.”

“I thought you croaked,” Yuffie said to Tseng.

“Not quite, young woman,” The Turk leader said softly. His cellphone rang a moment later and he took it out and put it to his ear. “Tseng, here.” He listened for a moment with narrowed eyes. “His son, is he? I must admit, I’m surprised. Very well, thank you for confirming it, Reeve.” He put the phone away and nodded at the other Turks.

Reno met Cloud’s eyes and something passed between them that he couldn’t quite understand. “Take care of it, man.”

“We will,” Cloud promised. He motioned to his friends and they continued down the tunnel, leaving the Turks standing where they were.

Tseng leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. Rude quickly supported him and Elena combed stray locks of black hair away from his eyes. “You’re pushing yourself too hard,” the blonde woman said. “You’ll re-open your wounds if you aren’t careful.”

Tseng shook his head. “N-no, they closed them in the hospital. It’s only muscle strain and remaining weakness from the infection. I just need to rest for a moment.”

“What was that business about a son?” Reno wanted to know.

“Sephiroth,” Tseng answered faintly. “It seems he’s Hojo’s son.”

The Turks stared at him in astonishment and Reno exploded, “Nah, there’s no way that ugly freak could have had a son that looks like Sephiroth. I mean…look at Hojo! Sephiroth is…well he’s hot. Hojo’s face looks like somebody’s foot, man.”

Tseng managed a soft chuckle at that and he looked at Reno fondly. “I imagine he must have taken after his mother in appearance,” he whispered. “Look at Rufus’s father, if you need an example of how some sons don’t resemble their sires.”

Reno’s throat closed up at the mention of Rufus. He nodded and blinked. “Yeah, if you put it that way I guess I can believe it, yo.”

The other Turks helped Tseng to sit down and they squatted near him. Reno had a flask of whiskey in his blazer and he took it out and offered it to the Wutaian. He half expected him to refuse it but Tseng accepted it with a grateful nod and sipped at it gingerly. Water would have been better but the last thing on any of their minds before going into the tunnel was picking up rations of any sort.

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

~Interesting…the afterlife is strangely painful and cramped.~

He tried to stretch his muscles but he was crammed into a fetal position. It felt like he was surrounded by cool metal walls and he could feel something under his palm that felt like stiff paper. He felt with his fingers, examining the glossy surface of the paper squares under his palm. He frowned in confusion and knocked on the walls with his knuckles. Whatever he was in was very solid and very sealed. His lungs were aching and he realized that he had limited air to breathe.

His memories came back and he realized where he was and what had happened. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get himself out. He cursed softly and winced as he maneuvered as best he could in his cramped space, digging for the item that he hoped was still there. He felt it in his inner left pocket after a moment and he pulled it out with effort and made use of it, unable to tell for certain whom he was contacting, due to his blurred vision.

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

Reno swore a vile curse as his cellphone rang. “Of all the fucking times…who the hell?” He put the phone to his ear and snapped: “What the fuck do you want?” without even looking at the number.

“R-Reno?”

The redhead’s blue-green eyes dilated until they were nearly black with pupil and widened. He nearly dropped the cellphone and he juggled it for a moment and shoved it back against his ear. “Sir? Rufus? Tell me it’s you, baby…is it you?”

“Apparently it is,” the weak voice answered, somehow retaining a tone of dry irony despite the evident pain in it.

“YO, IT’S RUFUS!!” Reno hollered. His companions winced at the volume of his voice and his announcement echoed through the tunnels, but as soon as they comprehended what he’d said they rose to their feet with astonished expressions…even Tseng.

“Please, my head aches as it is,” Rufus gasped.

Reno forced his voice down to a less shrill volume and swallowed. “Sorry, boss. Where are you?”

“In…my safe, I believe. I was…in my office when the explosion happened. I can’t talk for long…not enough air. I’m trapped.” Rufus was gasping for breath as he spoke.

Reno immediately started down the tunnel that would lead him beneath the ShinRa Headquarters, motioning hastily for the others. Rude and Elena helped Tseng to his feet and followed hastily.

“We’re coming for you, Sir,” Reno said breathlessly, “Just hold on, okay?”

“Listen,” Rufus said, “Track my cellphone. I don’t know…how long I can stay conscious. You know how to use the signal to track?”

“Yeah,” Reno said, picking up the pace until he was practically jogging. He tripped and swore as he almost fell on his face and he remembered to raise his flashlight so he could see where he was stepping. “Just conserve your air, boss. Don’t go anywhere, yo.”

“And where would I go?” Rufus questioned dryly.

Reno grinned painfully. “You know I didn’t mean physically, Sir. Stay alive for us.”

“Of course,” Rufus promised. “I’ll see you soon, Fox.”

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

The next hour was more terrifying for me than watching the Weapons attacking both cities, yo. I went from thinking that my first lover, my protector and the man that changed my life was gone forever to finding out he was alive and only had a short window to stay that way. It was like one of those horror movies where the person’s running down a hall and it keeps getting longer and longer, or knowing a bomb’s gonna go off and kill someone you love but not being sure how long you had to disarm it.

I knew the others were just as worried as I was and it had to be really hard on Tseng, being sick like he was and having known Rufus longer than any of us. He was a real trooper though. He didn’t complain once and he pushed us to move faster…even though I was ahead of everyone the whole time by a good ten feet.

I think the only other time I was ever this freaked was that day when Rufus and his old man pulled guns on each other in his office, yo. It was scary and not just because I might lose him. It scared me because I felt so damned much for him. It’s funny how much the risk of losing something makes you appreciate it more, yo.

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

“He’s gotta be in this room,” Reno muttered as he and the others traced the signal with their cellphones. There were pieces of wood, metal, glass and concrete all over the place. The front window that used to display such a magnificent view of the city was imploded and gaping open, letting the dry air from the city waft in. Rude eased Tseng down onto what was left of a lounge chair and Elena stayed with him while the bald man helped Reno sift through the ruin to find the safe Rufus said he was in.

After several moments, Reno finally honed in on the signal and realized why they hadn’t found the safe right away. It was lodged into the wall. “Over here,” he called to his partner as he shoved pieces of wreckage aside to make an opening. He knocked on the blackened metal of the safe door and there was a weak, answering knock from within. “He’s in here, yo!”

Rude squatted at the redhead’s side and examined the safe. “Titanium,” he announced. “Heat resistant, too. No wonder it didn’t melt. Do you know the combination?”

Reno bit his lip and shook his head. “Sir, we need the combination to open the safe,” he called. There was no answer and he shared a worried look with Rude.

“I’ll try to call him,” Tseng said from across the room. He dialed the number and waited. Reno and Rude could hear it ringing but Rufus never answered.

“Rufus?” the redhead inquired as he knocked on the metal again. This time there was no answering knock.

“I could go downstairs to the arms department and get something to blow it with,” Elena suggested.

Reno almost told her not to but if he couldn’t get the lock open it might be the only way to free Rufus before he suffocated. “Yeah, maybe you should start heading down there while I try to crack this safe,” he said upon reflecting for a moment. “We don’t have any time to waste. We’ll call if I get it open, yo.”

Elena nodded and hurried out while Reno knelt in front of the safe and motioned Rude to shine his flashlight over it. “Try to be quiet while I’m doing this,” Reno said. He hadn’t cracked a combo lock in years and he was out of practice. He took a deep breath and forced his nerves down as he put his ear to the safe and started turning the dial.

Roughly ten minutes later, the redhead was sweating and his hands were shaking with the fear that his boss had already expired inside of the safe. ~Come on Reno…you can do this! Just think of it like you’re tuning a car or something…don’t think about anything else!~

He was just about to give up and call Elena to tell her to hurry when he heard the click he’d been waiting for. Reno’s eyes popped wide and he gasped as he tugged on the handle. While the safe was heat resistant there was still some damage to the seams and he didn’t have the strength he needed to get the door open.

“Rude, help me out, man,” he grunted, “I’ve got it unlocked but I can’t get it open!”

Rude set the flashlight down and took hold of the handle, adding his muscle to the effort. After a few seconds of effort, they pried the safe door open and Rufus Shinra tumbled out. Reno immediately pulled him into his lap and shook him desperately.

“Sir? Rufus?! You’re out…breathe, man!”

Rufus coughed and his eyes fluttered open groggily. His hair looked gray, it was so full of soot and dust. His lips were cracked and peeling but he gave Reno a confident, crooked smirk as soon as his eyes focused on him. Reno hugged the young President tightly, unmindful of the tears that squeezed out from beneath his eyelids to drip down his cheeks and onto Rufus’s soiled clothes. Tseng breathed a sigh of relief and called Elena to let her know they’d gotten Rufus out.

“Oxygen…is…an…issue,” Rufus gasped.

“Sorry boss,” Reno muttered, wiping his eyes and loosening his embrace. He impulsively started giving the blonde mouth-to-mouth, forgetting in his enthusiasm that the technique was meant to be used on people that weren’t breathing.

Rufus pushed weakly at Reno’s shoulder and shook his head. “I can breathe on my own,” he rasped with a hint of annoyance. “I just meant…not to hold so tightly.”

“Oh yeah,” Reno said sheepishly, grinning at his lover.

“We should get him out of here,” Tseng suggested. “He needs fresh air and medical attention, and Meteor could begin falling at any time.”

Reno thought about it and remembered all of the ShinRa choppers on the roof of Headquarters. With any luck, the hit from Diamond Weapon hadn’t damaged all of them. “The roof isn’t far from here, yo,” he said, “As soon as Elena gets back up here we can take him to the roof and load him onto a chopper…if we can find one that’s still operational.”

“Pictures,” Rufus demanded weakly, flopping his hand toward the safe.

Rude peered into it and found several scattered photos inside. He stacked them together carefully and put them in his blazer to keep them safe. “I have them, sir.”

Rufus nodded and passed out again.

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

Luck was with them when they reached the roof. Many of the ShinRa helicopters were damaged but Reno found three that were still air-worthy and he chose the one with the fullest tank and started it up while Rude carried the President into it and Elena supported Tseng.

“This is Fox nineteen, requesting medical staff, over,” Reno said over the comm. Unit after slipping the headphones and mic on. All he got was static, so he tried different channels while the others secured Rufus and themselves into the chopper. He repeated his request until someone finally answered.

“This is ShinRa air control,” a woman’s voice answered, “Navigation systems are down and there are no available medical units, Fox nineteen. Over.”

Reno swore, though he wasn’t really surprised that air control was crippled, or that no medical help was available.

“Then give us a location of the nearest town with a decent medical staff. We’ve rescued President Shinra and we need to take him to a good doctor, over.” He bit his lip and leaned over to peer into the passenger and cargo area. Rude had lowered one of the folding cots from the wall and strapped Rufus into it. Tseng was seated at the head of the cot and he’d found the first aid kit. He was seeing to Rufus as best he could with what they had but Rufus might have internal injuries that needed treatment.

“You can try Mideel,” the woman answered after a moment, her voice betraying some relief and excitement at the news that Rufus was safe for the moment, “most of the town structures were damaged in a surge of Lifestream, but their were no casualties and they have very good doctors there, over.”

Reno almost asked about Junon as an alternative but considering that the Weapons had targeted major ShinRa cities so far, the suggestion of remote Mideel made more sense. “We’ll do that, then. Over.” He ended the transmission and lifted off.

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We got Rufus to Mideel as fast as we could, yo. The place was trashed like air control said but they’d already put up a temporary hospital building and some housing. The doctors there took good care of Rufus and Tseng, even though I was pretty sure they didn’t like ShinRa. I guess their practice was more important to them than their personal feelings about the company.

Rufus was awake and aware by the next day and he told us that if Meteor didn’t destroy Gaia, he had new plans for what was left of ShinRa. He wouldn’t go into details right away, saying there was no point unless the planet was saved. Reeve called and told us he was staying in Midgar to keep up the evacuation while Cloud’s gang went to the Northern Crater to try and stop Sephiroth.

Rufus talked to Reeve and told him not to mention he was still alive. He said if we all lived through this, he wanted to work behind the scenes and avoid attention for a while. I couldn’t really blame him for that but the reason I thought he was doing it was because he didn’t want to deal with any more attacks against him or the company, yo. His real reasons were a lot more complicated than that.

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

Reno walked beside his boss down the little path winding out of Mideel. The villagers were going to rename the place “Healin”, because the quiet, peaceful little community was so dedicated to helping the wounded recover it just made more sense to them. The President and the Turk crossed a trickling brook and tried to ignore the angry red color of the sky above them, as well as the increasing proximity of the Meteor. Reno walked with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the path, comforted by the presence of his boss.

“So I saw those pictures of your Ma that Rude grabbed for you,” the redhead commented softly, looking sidelong at the blonde. “You look like her, yo.”

Rufus nodded. “I do,” he agreed. “Thank Gaia.”

They smiled at each other and stopped walking. The President studied his fiery Turk lover for a moment and came to a decision. “Speaking of mothers, how is yours?”

“She’s doing okay,” Reno shrugged, “she’s in Kalm and I guess she’s as safe as any of us are.”

“Would you like to be with her, Reno?” Questioned Rufus.

The Turk swallowed and lowered his eyes. “Yeah, but I can’t leave you,” he murmured.

Rufus reached out and put his hands on his shoulders. “Spend one more night with me and the others. You have my permission to travel to Kalm in the morning to be with your mother.”

Reno looked at him with a torn expression on his fair face. “You sure, boss?”

Rufus gave him one of those rare, warm smiles and he nodded. “These are likely to be the last days we live to see,” he said truthfully, “and you’re very close to your mother. Spend time with her while you can, Fox.”

“I feel a little bad for Elena,” Reno said with a frown. “She doesn’t have any family and she’s kind of left out when it comes to us, if you know what I mean. I ain’t saying I want her sleeping with us…I just…ah, hell.”

Rufus smirked and shook his head. “Don’t worry about Elena. I believe she’s finally given up on Tseng. Haven’t you noticed the amount of time she’s been spending with that young doctor here?”

Reno’s eyebrows shot up. “What young doctor? Oh, the good-looking guy with the brown hair and the tan?”

“That’s the one. If you’d have been paying attention, you would have noticed that telling little glow about her over the past few days.”

Reno’s jaw dropped. “Don’t tell me she’s preggers, man.”

Rufus chuckled. “That isn’t the glow I was talking about. Just be assured that Elena isn’t deprived of company of the sensual kind. I doubt she’s had the time to feel any jealousy concerning our activities.”

Reno laughed. “Good for her, yo.”

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

That night, Reno experienced more than group sex with Rufus, Rude and Tseng. They all dropped their barriers and made love to each other all through the night, taking turns with each other or at times, being creative and doing it together as a group. The room they stayed in was shabby and the beds were lumpy but their minds were totally on each other and they didn’t care.

Reno was exhausted by the time morning came around but he was also feeling oddly exhilarated. His boss and fellow Turks walked with him to the chopper and exchanged hugs with him before he boarded the chopper, all reservations dropped because they knew it would probably be the last time they saw him.

Rude was standing stiff and still, with his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw tense as he watched the helicopter rotors speed up. Tseng and Rufus noticed and they exchanged a look between them and nodded to each other.

“Rude,” the President said suddenly, loudly enough to be heard over the chopper engine. When the bald man looked at him, he nodded towards the aircraft. “Go with him.”

Rude’s eyebrows went up. “Sir?”

Rufus smirked. “She’s practically your mother too, from what I understand. Go with your partner.”

A faint look of relief and appreciation bled into Rude’s light-brown features and he nodded. “Thank you, Sir.” He jogged toward the helicopter, waving to get Reno’s attention.

Reno saw the movement from the corner of his eye and he turned his head to see his partner hurrying to the chopper. He saw Rufus and Tseng standing close together with Elena and the two men were watching with calm, approving expressions. Reno realized what was happening and he took his hand off the stick and grinned widely as Rude made it to the aircraft and pulled the passenger side door open.

Reno impulsively leaned over to hug the bald man and kiss him deeply. Rude returned the kiss and lectured him softly when a tear slipped down his face. “Don’t do that to me, partner,” the bald man said as he wiped the moisture away from Reno’s cheek. “These won’t be our last days, I don’t care what anyone says.”

Reno sniffed and nodded, bringing his emotions under control. “Right. Let’s go see Ma, partner.”

He waited for Rude to secure himself in the seat before lifting off. The two of them looked down at the dwindling figures of their boss and their fellow Turks as the chopper ascended out of the wooded Mideel range and into the red sky.

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

When they arrived at Kalm, they ran into an old friend on their way to the Inn. Cissnei spotted them across the square and shouted their names.

“I’ll be damned,” Reno said with a grin as the young woman hurried over and hugged him. He returned the embrace tightly and lifted her a little. “How you doing, doll?”

She shrugged as he set her back on her feet. “The same as everyone else, I guess. I just got here three days ago. Mr. Tuesti practically shooed me out of Midgar.”

She exchanged a more reserved hug with Rude and smiled at the two of them. “So where were you guys?” She leaned closer and whispered, “Is the President okay?”

Rude nodded. “We came here from Mideel,” he murmured in a low undertone. “The President is there with Tseng and Elena.”

“Good,” Cissnei sighed with relief. “Kalm is a little crowded now but you can share my Inn room if you need somewhere to sleep.”

“We came to see my Ma, actually,” Reno said, “I brought her here just before Diamond Weapon attacked Midgar, yo. Hey, wanna meet her?”

Cissnei considered it and nodded. “That should be interesting.”

“She’s a lot different from Reno, except for looks,” Rude informed her. “He must have gotten his personality from his father.”

“Ma’s got a wild streak in her,” Reno argued with a wink, “you just haven’t seen it yet. Come on, she’s waiting for us.”

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

Reno and his mother hugged for a good, long while before releasing each other. Rude was pleasantly surprised when she hugged him next.

“How are you, Mrs. Flynn?” he asked as he returned the embrace.

“I can’t complain, really,” she said with a little smile. “This is a lovely little town and the room that Reno put me in is nice and clean. The food in the little restaurant downstairs is very good, too.”

Reno motioned Cissnei into the room and introduced her. “Ma, this is Cissnei—another one of my coworkers.”

“Pleasure to meet you, dear,” Lena said as she shook hands with Cissnei. “Well, it seems we have some catching up to do. Why don’t we have a seat and talk?

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

Reno did his best to keep the mood light and Cissnei turned out to be a great help with that—though at first Reno almost freaked out because when his mother asked how they’d met, the Turk girl told the flat-out truth.

“I was being held for ransom and your son came with Rude to negotiate my release,” Cissnei said. When Reno and Rude stared at her with huge eyes, she shrugged. “We’ve got a crisis hanging over our heads guys. Besides, I’m sure your mom already knows more than you’ve told her.”

Reno looked at his mother, who seemed a little taken aback by Cissnei’s blunt honesty but was otherwise unsurprised. “Oh Reno, I’ve known you weren’t just a pilot for President Shinra for some time now,” Lena said with a laugh when she recovered, “You have too many odd connections for me not to have figured it out eventually.”

“Oh,” Reno said stupidly. “Uh, Ma…my work is…that is, I never gave you details because we’re not supposed to.”

Lena smiled and reached out to pat his cheek. “Don’t get yourself into a state, sweetheart. I know how to stay quiet about things when I have to. I just wish you’d chosen a career that was a bit less dangerous. So tell me, how did this situation work out with Cissnei? Did her kidnappers give you any trouble?”

Reno was so surprised by his mother’s acceptance of the truth that he blurted more of it out before thinking. “Yeah, actually. Rude ended up shooting one of ‘em and then we were all caught in a firefight.”

Lena looked at Rude with surprise and a motherly expression of disappointment. “You shot a man?” she asked.

“Well, uh…” he started with a flush.

“The guy hit Cissnei in the face,” Reno explained. “That was when Rude shot him.”

Lena’s expression hardened for a moment with remembered abuse at the hands of a violent man. “Oh, he struck her, did he?” She smiled at the bald man. “You’re a good boy, then.”

Cissnei chuckled and Reno stared at his mother. “MA!” he said in shock.

“What?” Lena responded evenly. “My boy, if you can be honest, so can I. A man who would strike a defenseless woman deserves whatever he gets. I formed that opinion years ago, after a good person made personal sacrifices to protect me.”

Reno felt a lump form in his throat and he cleared it gruffly. “See Rude? I told ya. The lady’s got spunk.”

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

Reno and Rude shared the second bed in Lena’s Inn room during their stay. A couple of nights after their arrival, the redhead couldn’t sleep and he didn’t want to wake his partner and mother up, so he went to Cissnei’s room and knocked on her door.

“Hey Cissnei, you awake?” he whispered loudly as he tapped. A moment later the door opened and the petite brunette stood before him in a full yellow nightgown. Reno wasn’t used to seeing her out of uniform and he grinned, thinking she looked ridiculously innocent in the gown.

“What are you grinning at?” she whispered as she stood aside to let him in. “I don’t live in the uniform, you know.”

“I’ve just never seen you looking all sweet and innocent,” he said as he walked in and she closed the door and locked it behind them. “Plus, you blush easy, yo.”

She sighed and moved to the bed nearest to the open window. “Figures I’d get compliments like that from a guy that doesn’t even like women.”

Reno shrugged and sat down next to her on the bed, sniffing curiously at the air. “I like women…I just don’t want to have sex with ‘em. What’s that smell? It’s familiar.”

Cissnei didn’t answer. Instead she pinched a suspicious rolled cigarette out of the ashtray she had sitting on the window seal and brought it to her lips for a deep drag. She held her breath after inhaling and looked at him expectantly.

“Hey, is that…hash?” Reno inquired with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

She exhaled and coughed a little. “Like you’ve never smoked it.” She offered the joint to him and he shrugged and took a hit.

“Just didn’t think you were the sort,” he wheezed before passing it back.

“Not usually,” Cissnei admitted. “There’s a lot of things I haven’t done, but now I’m thinking I should live a little before I die.”

Reno’s sea-green eyes softened on her. “Try not to think like that, yo. You can’t enjoy what you’ve got if you’re focused on what you might lose.”

She took another hit and shrugged, turning around in the bed and crossing her ankles over one another. She rested her hands on her spread knees and stared up at the sky. “It’s getting closer,” she murmured.

Reno scooted up beside her and looked out the window at the looming Meteor. “I guess it is,” he agreed with a frown.

Cissnei put the joint out and looked him in the eye. “I don’t want to die a virgin.” Her small hand grabbed hold of his shirt and she pulled him closer.

“Uh…you’re a virgin?” Reno muttered. He was aware that she was pulling him closer and that her lips were parted. ~Uh-oh.~

“Whoa,” Reno blurted, holding her by the shoulders to stop the advance. “Look doll, I think you’re great and if I were into ladies I’d tap you in a second, but—“

She sighed. “But you’re gay, I know.” Her cheeks filled with color and she averted her eyes. “Sorry, Reno. You were just here and I know you wouldn’t hurt me. The guy I really wanted is dead and I just wanted to be with someone before…oh damn, I’m such an idiot!”

He calmed down and patted her shoulders gently. “You ain’t an idiot, Cissnei. It’s a normal human reaction to want things like that when you think you’re number’s almost up, okay? Come here.” He put an arm around her and hugged her, and she started to cry softly against his chest. “It ain’t over yet,” he tried to console, but a hot wind suddenly picked up outside and the Inn began to shake. The shutters on the window flapped violently and Reno yanked Cissnei away and to the floor as the glass shattered.

“Fuck,” he gasped, looking out the shattered window to see Meteor beginning a visible descent. Red funnels of energy began to drop from the sky like tornados.

~So much for my speech about it not being over yet.~

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

“We’ve got to get underground,” Reno yelled as he burst into his mother’s room. Rude was already helping her up and covering her with a blanket. Reno hurried to his mother’s side and put an arm around her and Rude took up the lead to clear the way. Cissnei got on Lena’s other side to help support her, guessing that the high winds outside would make it hard for everyone to keep their balance.

“The shelter’s at the back of town,” Cissnei yelled as the buffeting winds screamed through the Inn.

Rude threw an arm out to halt the others as a ceiling beam fell in the hallway. He moved around it and motioned for them to follow. The sound of frightened screams and yells could be heard over the wind as they hurried down the hall to the stairs. Other patrons were trying to get out too but the Turks had started moving sooner than most, not bothering to collect any belongings. It didn’t take them very long to get outside but the flying debris made it hazardous as they made their way across the village to the underground shelter. Reno was struck in the temple with a piece of debris and he nearly blacked out from it.

“I’m okay, Ma,” he said as coherently as he could when Lena saw the blood on the side of his head and cried out with alarm. They lurched through the opening leading into the shelter and found a spot amongst the other frightened refugees and villagers to settle in. Reno collapsed heavily against the wall and slid down to the floor, dizzy from his head wound.

“Shit, you got hit harder than you let on,” Rude said as he squatted in front of Reno and examined the side of his head. The redhead was pale and a little green. “Do you think you’re going to throw up?”

“I dunno,” Reno answered thickly, sucking in a few deep breaths.

“Are there any medical supplies in here?” Hollered Cissnei to the general public while Lena tried to tear off a piece of the blanket around her shoulders to use as a bandage. Nobody answered immediately because there was too much chaos for anyone to pay attention, so the Turk girl got to her feet and went to look for supplies.

“I told her it wasn’t over,” Reno muttered groggily as Rude produced a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it firmly against the bleeding head wound.

Rude grimly kept the pressure on, glad at least that his partner was coherent enough to talk. It was important to keep him awake and aware until someone could determine if the wound was severe or not. “You always manage to get yourself hurt, baby.”

Reno gave him a sickly grin and then patted his mother’s hand soothingly. “I’ll be okay.”

Cissnei returned with a middle-aged woman at her heels. “This lady’s a doctor,” she said.

The woman knelt in front of Reno and set the bag she was carrying on the floor. “Let’s have a look at you, dear.” When Reno obligingly tilted his head and Rude shone his flashlight on the wound, the doctor cleaned the area and nodded, clucking her tongue. “You’re fortunate, young man. Head wounds always bleed terribly but this won’t need stitches. I have other people to see to as well, so all I can do for the moment is clean it and bandage it up. You might feel a bit queasy but it’s safe for you to rest if you need to.”

Reno held still while the doctor tended his wound, groaning a little when she cleaned it but otherwise voicing no complaints. After she finished bandaging his head, the doctor gave him a bottle of water to drink and then left him to see to other injured people.

The roof of the concrete shelter was a few inches above the ground, with small square windows to enable occupants to see outside. After a while, the interior of the shelter was lit up from white light that was coming from outside. It was so bright that they thought it might be lightning at first, but it didn’t flash and it only grew brighter.

“What’s going on out there?” Reno asked, not trusting himself to stand up on his own to see.

Cissnei stood on her tiptoes and looked out one of the tiny, reinforced glass windows to see what was going on outside. She shouted an exclamation and motioned for the others to look. “Something’s happening…I think the light is trying to drive Meteor away!”

Rude helped Reno to stand up and they looked out the window. There was a gigantic nimbus of pure, sparkling white light surrounding the base of Meteor and it did indeed look like it was pushing it back. Other people began to look out the window as well and they began to cheer. Before they could get into a fully exuberant state, however, Meteor pushed back and the two forces began to fight each other. The winds outside got worse and it seemed like the opposing energy was only going to hasten the destruction of the planet.

“So I guess this is it after all,” Rude muttered as he held Reno more tightly against him.

“Hold up,” Reno said with a frown of concentration. “Is my head wound making me see things or is that Lifestream I’m seeing coming out of the ground?”

Rude saw it too and so did Cissnei. All three of the Turks were familiar with the sight, having witnessed the Lifestream absorb Zackary Fair. The green tendrils came from everywhere and reached up to embrace Meteor while they watched tensely.

“Reno, what is it doing?” Lena asked in confusion.

“I’m not sure, Ma,” the redhead answered truthfully. More Lifestream webbed out from the ground and the earth trembled. The green light soon overpowered the red from Meteor and the white from whatever force had first tried to oppose it. It grew so bright it was painful to look at and the witnesses were forced to avert their eyes as it continued to grow brighter. There was a great rumble and Reno peered through his fingers with watery eyes, struggling to make out what was happening.

The light exploded in a shower of sparks and Meteor dissolved. The Turks and their fellow witnesses stared in confused disbelief for several moments, hardly daring to breathe. The wind died down and a sob of relief from somewhere in the shelter broke the eerie silence. People began to murmur, then shout with relief.

“Yo, I think the Lifestream ate it,” Reno said in amazement.

“I guess that means Strife’s team succeeded,” Rude assumed.

Reno smiled and hugged his mother to him. “They must have, man. I don’t know how the hell they got the Lifestream to do that for ‘em but Meteor’s gone now and that’s all that matters.”

“I’m calling Rufus,” the bald man said.

“Yeah, we’d better make sure they’re all right,” agreed Reno.

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

So Cloud and his buddies took care of Sephiroth and Jenova…we found that out for sure from Reeve the day after Meteorfall. He couldn’t tell us why the Lifestream did what it did but I didn’t really care. They were all okay and heading back to Midgar. Rufus, Tseng and Elena were okay too.

I set Ma up in a little cottage near Healin, until I could find another place for her. Midgar was trashed, yo. Rufus organized for ShinRa people to go in and get as much of our stuff as they could and he started funding Reeve’s new organization to help restore the planet and cities. There was no telling how long it was going to take to get Midgar restored or even if it could be done, yo. Rufus let Reeve make the rebuilding decisions on that end and he concentrated on Junon, deciding he was going to make the Headquarters there our new base once the rebuilding was done.

Until then we were pretty much staying in Mideel…or Healin, whatever you wanna call it. It wasn’t the most exciting place to live but it was quiet and Rufus bought a big house for us to stay in outside the village. I kind of liked living with my fellow Turks…it was real convenient to have all my lovers in the same place all the time.

The citizens of Midgar decided to build a city around the borders of it while the WRO was working on cleaning up the old city and making it livable again. They called it Edge, yo. Everything went pretty good for about a year, but then people all over the world started getting sick with some kind of disease that the science and medical community hadn’t ever seen before. It wasn’t spread from person to person but it infected people randomly.

They finally worked out that it was caused by Jenova cells being carried through the Lifestream, man. I guess Cloud and his gang did their job a little too good…there were pieces of that thing drifting around and infecting people all over the place. They finally gave it a name: Geostigma. The worst part was that there wasn’t a fucking cure for it.

Sometimes you just can’t win, you know?

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

-To be continued