Picking up the Pieces

Some very softcore stuff this time, I promise it will get way more "adult" in the future and probably violent at some point too. Just bear with me while I set up the story a bit, k? :)


Chapter 2: Rufus and Tseng

Rufus starred at the empty bottle of brandy on his nightstand guiltily. He wasn’t supposed to be drinking yet, not until his condition improved. But he had been to see Rosalind earlier, and he had taken out the bottle when he got home, it had been just one glass of brandy to celebrate, she was due in less than a month after all.
However, one glass had soon turned to two, then three and finally to an empty bottle. As the amber liquid diminished, so did his good cheer.
He couldn’t stop thinking about Tseng, about how he should be here for this important time.

He thought back to when he had first met the Wutain Turk, when he was seventeen and Tseng was twenty-four. It had been lust at first sight for Rufus, he hadn’t been able to keep his mind off the raven-haired man, and it hadn’t been long before he had made his intentions clear. He had spent two months pursuing the Turk, making sure to assign Tseng to anything he was working on, and making him his personal bodyguard whenever he appeared in public. Two months spent building up a friendship with the quiet man.
Soon they had started spending time together outside of work, and it was one night when they were in Rufus’ apartment enjoying a drink, that the first move was finally made.

Rufus sat on his expensive couch, drinking red wine and pretending to listen to his companion’s war stories. He had never seen Tseng drunk before, and it appeared to have loosened the Wutain’s tongue quite a bit.
Usually quiet and reserved, Tseng was animated and talkative while drunk, so talkative in fact, that Rufus couldn’t get a word in edgeways.
The night wore on steadily, Tseng kept talking and Rufus kept refilling his glass. To Rufus’ surprise, Tseng also became much more “affectionate”, occasionally reaching out to squeeze Rufus on the shoulder or knee, and he seemed to be inching slowly across the distance between them on the sofa.
Rufus leaned forward to put his wine glass on the coffee table, at the same moment that Tseng had leaned in to pick his glass up. He found himself nose to nose with the Wutain, his blue eyes meeting black, and was surprised when Tseng moved forward, capturing his lips in a hungry kiss.
They had almost run to the bedroom, their progress marked by a trail of discarded clothing.

Rufus smiled when he remembered how flustered Tseng had been the next morning. Full of apologies for his “inappropriate behaviour” and promising that it “would never happen again”. Rufus had just raised an eyebrow and said that he sincerely hoped that it would happen again. Tseng had been utterly flabbergasted, blushing and stuttering until Rufus had closed his mouth over the other man’s. They had both been very late for work that morning.

Their relationship continued on in secret for five years, what started out as a secretive fling quickly developed into something much deeper. Nobody had known about them except for the other Turks.
They stopped hiding when his father died, with the old man out of the way they didn’t have to worry about jeopardising Tseng’s career, and Rufus’ inheritance. There was never any official announcement, but they stopped refraining from showing each other affection in public. He chuckled to himself when he remembered the look on Heidegger’s face when he began greeting Tseng with a kiss instead of a handshake.
They had been planning to get married after the whole AVALANCHE fiasco was over, and had already looked at their options when it came to starting a family, they would need an heir to the ShinRa fortune after all.

With the scientific advancements that his company had brought about, it was relatively easy for a same sex couple to have a genetic child together. Of course, in their case they would still need a surrogate to carry their offspring, that was were Rosalind came in.
Eight months ago she had been implanted with his and Tseng’s baby. Eight months ago, when they had still thought that AVALANCHE and Sephiroth were a minor threat.
Now Tseng was missing, and he himself had nearly died in the attack on Midgar.

Our baby had almost been orphaned before they had even taken their first breath

The thought made him shudder. He wasn’t taking any more chances; he had his child to think about now. He would remain in hiding until he had recovered completely, and even then, he would keep security around himself as high as possible. Rosalind was being kept in a heavily guarded safe house until she gave birth, what she did afterward was of no interest to him. She would be paid handsomely, of course, and then she would leave him and his new family in peace.

He looked at the clock and sighed. It was getting late, soon one of the Turks would appear to check on him, and he doubted that his drunken state would go unnoticed. He could almost feel Elena’s disapproving look, Rude’s disappointed silence and Reno’s inability to mind his own business and keep his mouth shut.
There was a knock on the door and Elena let herself in, not waiting for an answer, he didn’t even have a chance to hide the empty bottle.

“Good evening Elena” he said hoping his voice didn’t betray his inebriated condition

“Good evening sir, how are you this evening? Can I get you anything?”

“I’m fine Elena, although I would appreciate it if my dinner was brought up an hour earlier this evening”

“Yes sir”

He watched as she scanned the room, her eyebrow twitched when she noticed the bottle on the bedside table, but she said nothing. Instead she moved forward and picked the offending object up, looking at the label with a strange frown on her face.
She looked up at him, that motherly disapproving look already forming on her face. He could see that she wanted to chastise him, but of course she held her tongue.

“You are dismissed, Elena” he said quietly

She stared at him for a moment, making him feel very uneasy, before she let out an exasperated sigh

“Yes sir”

She left the room quickly, the bottle still firmly grasped in her hand. Rufus frowned, wondering why she had taken the bottle with her.

~

After checking on Rufus, Elena made her way to the Turk residential floor and entered the kitchen/living area. Rude was at the table, reading the newspaper. She walked over and put the bottle on the table.
Rude looked up at her over his glasses, frowning when his eyes landed on the bottle.

“Someone is sneaking these into the building for him” she said angrily

“So?”

“He shouldn’t be drinking, he’s going to damage his health!”

“He’s a grown man, Elena. It’s his decision. Even if it is stupid” Rude shrugged

Elena scowled and made an angry noise in the back of her throat before storming out of the room. She marched toward the elevator, intending to go down to the shooting range to let off some steam.

Maybe Reno will be down there with Adrian. I’m sure he’ll be just as pissed as I am about Rufus’ drinking

~

Elena stepped onto the shooting range and noticed Reno’s bag on the bench, but couldn’t see the redhead or Adrian anywhere.

“Reno?” she called out “Adrian?”

No answer. She ran a hand through her short hair and walked toward the locker room, hoping to find them in there. She banged open the door and stopped right in her tracks, it took her a few seconds to comprehend what she was seeing, she blinked dumbly a few times, she had just walked in on Adrian screwing Reno against the wall.

She stared, mouth agape at the spectacle before her. Reno’s slender legs wrapped around Adrian’s waist, his arms locked around the brunette’s neck, as they rocked together. Their soft gasps and harsh breathing echoed obscenely in the empty room. She was rooted to the spot, but the spell was broken when Reno opened his eyes. Heavily lidded teal orbs regarded her lustily. “Oh!” she gasped, too shocked to say anything else, and quickly ran back out the way she came, slamming the locker room door shut behind her. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

She felt a fierce blush break out on her face and she began banging on the door angrily.

“Reno! Get out here right now!”

“In a minute!” came the muffled reply

She waited, arms crossed, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. She couldn’t understand how Reno could be so unprofessional, and it seemed that the new recruit wasn’t any better.
The door opened and Reno stepped out, wearing just his pants, a cocky grin on his face. Gods! She felt like punching him! Adrian crept out after him; she noticed that he at least had the decency to look ashamed.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Reno?! You have a room upstairs for a reason!” she shouted, her face growing more flushed with each word

“Calm down ‘Lena, we’re off duty now, no harm in a little extracurricular fun” Reno replied, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously, seemingly unfazed by her anger

She glared at him, unable to think of a response that wouldn’t betray the fact that she was angry more out of embarrassment than anything else. He didn’t even blink under her stony gaze, that cock-sure smirk never faltering. She turned on Adrian instead, who actually physically cringed from the intensity of her stare. He swallowed nervously, looking to Reno for reassurance.

“Seriously, yo, I don’t see what the big deal is. We weren’t breaking any rules.” Reno said, trying to redirect her attention away from Adrian.

“No, you weren’t. But it’s inappropriate! And awkward!” she said, pouting, knowing she was loosing the argument

Reno looked at her thoughtfully for a second, then he reached out and ruffled her hair.

“Aw ‘Lena, you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed!” he said, laughing

“I’m not the one who should be embarrassed! At least I had my clothes on” she said, smiling a little, her anger fading.

“Exactly, yo!” Reno chuckled, before turning toward the door “I’m gonna go respectabalise myself”, he went to get dressed, leaving Elena and Adrian alone.

“Sorry about that” Adrian said nervously

“Don’t worry about it, I just got a fright is all. I don’t know why I was surprised though, Reno is always getting himself into trouble” she said with a smile. “He’s gonna have to be a bit more careful soon, when we have a little kid running around”

“Little kid?”

“Didn’t Reno tell you? The President is going to become a father sometime next month”

“Oh? Who’s the lucky mother?”

Elena looked at the floor; she felt a familiar sadness welling up in her chest. “There is no mother, as such. Tseng was our commander before Rude. He is the baby’s other father. But he’s been MIA for five months now. We’re still searching.”

“How terrible for the President” Adrian said quietly

“Yes. It’s been tough on us all. We were…are all very close to Tseng. There is still a chance that we may find him”

Reno reappeared; he looked from Elena to Adrian taking in their glum expressions “Ye Gods! Who died?”

“I was just telling Adrian about Tseng” Elena said softly “And how we are soon going to hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet around here”

“Yeah, and I bet we’ll be the ones feeding and changing the brat, yo. Rufus doesn’t seem like the domestic type” Reno said rolling his eyes

“Well he shouldn’t have to take care of the baby all on his own! Not only is he currently a single parent, but he’s also in a wheelchair recovering from a near-death experience! Try being a little more sensitive, Reno” Elena retorted

“Whatever, yo. We’ll see if you still feel the same way when we’re all knee deep in baby shit. It’s not like any of us have any experience looking after kids”

“I do”

Elena and Reno both turned to Adrian, “Huh?” they said in unison

“I’m the eldest of six children, I’ve plenty experience feeding and changing kids” he shrugged. “I guess you mustn’t have any brothers or sisters?”

“I have an older sister, although I wish I didn’t” Elena said

“Yeah, I’m an only child. So is Rude” Reno said, he turned to Elena, grinning, “So I guess this means we can dump the baby on the rookie!”

“Yep! Too bad for you Rookie!” Elena giggled, poking Adrian on the shoulder. Taking great joy in not being the lowest ranking Turk anymore.

“My first day, and I’m already being taken advantage of!” Adrian sighed, putting his hand to his forehead in mock distress

“Taking advantage of you? I believe I was one being taken advantage of in the locker room, yo!” Reno leered

“Reno! Do you always have to be so perverted?” Elena said, smacking him upside the head

“Yep!”

~

The next morning, Rude was sitting in Rufus’ quarters giving his usual report. He was surprised when the President didn’t dismiss him when he had finished. An awkward silence hung in the air for a few moments before Rufus finally broke it.

“I was up all night thinking”

Rude raised an eyebrow at the seemingly random statement, but remained silent.

“I’m going to be a father soon.” The President looked up at the bald man, his haggard blue eyes clearly showing his lack of sleep. “My child will have the right to know what happened to their other parent, don’t you think?”

“Yes sir” Rude said carefully. He had no idea where Rufus was going with this, and he was more than a little worried.

“What I want, is for the search for information regarding Tseng to be extended.” He paused, seemingly gathering his thoughts. “I want Reno and the new recruit to head out to Edge. I want them to get AVALANCHE’s account of what happened at the Temple of the Ancients.”

“Sir, I don’t think it’s wise to let AVALANCHE know that you are still alive, yet.”

“They don’t need to know that. I’m sure they are aware that my company still exists, and therefore, that the Turks are still in commission. Neither of those facts necessarily indicate that I am alive, especially if Reno and Mr. Frayne tell them personally that I am indeed… deceased.”

“Very well, sir”

“You are dismissed”

Rude left the room quietly and quickly. He took the elevator up to the sixth floor, hoping to find Reno and Adrian up there. He looked at his watch, nearly half ten. Knowing Reno, he was probably still in bed and Adrian was most likely with him. He stopped in front of the room with a small “3” engraved on it’s surface. He knocked a few times, not getting an answer. He reached down and grasped the handle, he began turning it slowly, it moved freely. He shook his head; surprised that Reno would leave his door unlocked.

He entered cautiously. He could hear the shower. He looked to the bed; there was a lump under the blanket. He moved closer, the dishevelled puff of red hair sticking out from under the covers immediately identifying the sleeping form. Rude reached out to shake his partner.
~

Reno groaned as he was pulled reluctantly from sleep. Someone was shaking him. He opened one eye slowly, his vision was blurred with sleep but he’d recognise the form looming over him any day.

“Rude, lemme’ alone” he mumbled

“Reno, you’re late for work”

“So?”

“The boss has a mission for you and the rookie”

That made Reno sit up, immediately awake. “Ade hasn’t even finished his training yet!”

“He’s not completely green, he was a SOLDIER until yesterday after all”

“I still don’t like it, yo. What sort of mission?”

“You’re both going to Edge. The boss thinks it’s time to question AVALANCHE about what happened in the Temple of the Ancients.”

Reno’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? ‘bout fuckin’ time!”

Adrian walked into the room then, already dressed in his suit. He said hello to Rude and listened carefully as the bald man explained the mission to them.
Reno was feeling pretty good; he hadn’t seen any real action in a while. He was looking forward to this little endeavour.

And if it puts me in the vicinity of a certain sexy blond swordsman, who am I to complain?
He thought to himself with a smirk.

“How are we getting there?” Adrian asked

“You’ll take a helicopter” Rude said, smiling a little when he saw Reno’s reaction

“It’s been forever since I got to fly my bird!” Reno cried happily

~

Tifa was setting the table while she listened to Barret regale Denzel with stories about his latest trip with the WRO to find new fuel sources. She was setting for seven, herself, Barret, Cloud, Denzel, Marlene, Reeve and Yuffie. Reeve said he was here on official WRO business; right now he was sitting with Marlene. The little girl was showing him something she had drawn earlier. Yuffie was staying in Edge for a while with the WRO, at the moment she was in the kitchen “helping” Cloud cook. This meant she was bossing him around and pointing out any mistakes he made.
Tifa shook her head and smiled. Things had been a bit rough between her and Cloud recently, they didn’t really know how to behave around each other anymore, but things had gotten much better since he had brought Denzel home. She didn’t really know why, but Denzel just brought them together somehow.

She headed for the kitchen to get glasses for everyone and to find out how much longer the food was going to be. She walked in and saw Cloud in front of the big pot of spaghetti; Yuffie was looking over his shoulder, barking orders at him. She could tell by the look on Cloud’s face that he wanted to dump the pot over the exuberant ninja’s head. He looked up when Tifa came in, his blue eyes pleading.

“Yuffie, we’re out of bread and milk. I don’t suppose you could run to the shop and get them while we’re waiting for dinner?” Tifa smiled at the younger girl

Yuffie looked at her sceptically for a moment, looked at the pot of food and then back to Tifa. “Ok Tifa, but don’t be surprised if he burns the dinner without me here to help!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him” she replied, handing Yuffie some money

The young ninja left the room sulkily.

“Thank you, Tifa” Cloud said with a sigh as he stirred

“You’re welcome, Cloud. How much longer will dinner be?”

“Five or ten minutes” he answered, checking on the pan of sauce to his left.

She opened a cupboard, pulling out seven glasses.

~

Cloud didn’t notice Tifa leave the kitchen. He was just glad that Yuffie was gone; she always seemed to know exactly how to push his buttons. He took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the food. Five months ago he couldn’t toast a piece of bread, but under Tifa’s tutelage he had become quite the amateur chef. He enjoyed cooking, it kept his mind busy and off unpleasant memories.

He could hear Barret laughing in the other room, and he smiled. It was good to have so many of his friends here, even Yuffie. He wondered what the others were doing with themselves; he missed Vincent, Cid and Nanaki, he hadn’t seen any of them since they had defeated Sephiroth.
He resolved to try and get in touch with them soon, although he had no idea how he would get a hold of Vincent. He hoped that things were going as well for them as they were for him and his makeshift family. He was getting along with Tifa again, Barret was home, Marlene was her usual happy self, and he had given a home to a boy that had lost everything. He was making quite a bit of money with his new delivery service, and the 7th Heaven was a huge success. For the first time since the Nibelheim incident, he was able to smile again.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a small hand tugging at his pants leg; he looked down into a pair of brown eyes. Marlene tugged on his clothes again and he raised his eyebrows in question.

“I’m hungry, Cloud”

He smiled down at her “It’s just ready, can you get the plates for me?”

She nodded with a smile and scurried away to get plates for everyone. He laughed when she tried to lift the pile of plates onto the countertop, which was nearly taller than her. He took them from her gently, and she watched fascinated as he dished out the pasta.

“Spaghetti looks like worms!” she laughed

“I suppose it does, a little bit” he replied, chuckling, “Don’t say that in front of your dad though, he’ll get sick!”

“Really? Why? Is my daddy afraid of worms?”

“No, he just doesn’t want to think about eating them”

“Ok Cloud, I wont say anything” she said, making a zipping motion across her lips.

“Good girl. Come on, help me bring these in”

~

They all sat at the table listening to Marlene talk about some game that she and Denzel had invented. Reeve noticed that the little boy didn’t speak very often, and when he did he rarely said more than one or two words. Marlene did most of the talking for him, and they seemed to have become fast friends despite the fact he was nearly twice her age.
Reeve sneaked a glance at Tifa, and she winked at him conspiratorially. They had been seeing each other for almost three months now, and they were planning on telling everyone tonight after dinner.
In fact, the “official WRO business” he was supposedly here on, was all just a ruse to see his lover.

Barret cleared is throat loudly, and Reeve looked up, knowing what the other man wanted him to bring up. He nodded.

“These past few months, myself and Barret have been scouting out alternative power sources, but we’ve…” he paused for a moment, trying to find the right words “…run into a few problems.”

“What kind of problems?” it was their blond leader who spoke

“Every single Natural gas field has been purchased by an anonymous corporation, so have most of the oil fields. As have most of the processing plants for those energy sources. Someone has set out to monopolise the power, and they seem to have limitless funds. I have my suspicions as to who it could be, and I’m sure we are all thinking the same thing.”

“ShinRa” Cloud said, his expression growing dark

“They seem to be the most likely candidate” Reeve agreed

“But Rufus is dead, and ShinRa died with him, didn’t it?” Tifa asked

“ShinRa are the only company that would have access to those kinds of funds. Also the Turks and SOLDIER still seem to exist in Junon, someone has to be paying their salaries.” Reeve took a deep breath “My organisation has also received a rather large donation from an anonymous benefactor. The sheer amount of money and the wish to remain anonymous all seem to point to ShinRa.”

“The Turks and SOLDIER are still around?” Yuffie asked, sounding serious for once “Why are they only in Junon? Why not try to gain control of the other cities?”

“Junon would be the best base of operations for them, since Midgar has been destroyed. I have no idea why they haven’t spread out from there, maybe they want to stay as far away from Cloud as possible?” Reeve looked at the blond

“Maybe…” Cloud said carefully “…at least until they have rebuilt their empire somewhat”

“We took ‘em down before, we can do it again” Barret added

“I don’t see why we have to interfere with them at all.” Tifa said, earning surprised looks from everyone around the table.

“If Rufus is dead, what do we have to worry about? Whoever is in charge now has made a generous donation to the WRO, it seems they may be trying to make up for the damage ShinRa has caused in the past” she looked around the table at her friends and her lover “And ShinRa never had any interest in other power sources before, they were only interested in Mako. If they aren’t using Mako again, why should we have a problem with what they are doing now?”

“You’re right, Tifa.” their leader said slowly “This doesn’t sound like the same ShinRa we fought against before.” Cloud looked at Reeve “I do think we should keep an eye on them though”

Reeve nodded. Everyone seemed to agree. Reeve looked at Tifa, feeling very proud that she had managed to diffuse such a potentially hostile situation.

“Shifting to a happier topic” Tifa said, getting everyone’s attention “Reeve and I have an announcement to make” she beamed at him.

Reeve gulped, she had decided to tell them now? He looked around the table; everyone was looking at him curiously.

“Come on Reeve, don’t keep us waiting” Barret said impatiently

“Well… Tifa and I… have been… I mean… we’ve been…” he paused and looked at Tifa, she smiled and finished his sentence for him “we’ve been an item for the last three months, and even though it’s only been a short time, we both feel that it’s really going somewhere”

Barret grinned at them, clapping Reeve on the back and hugging Tifa. Yuffie jumped up and hugged Tifa and then Reeve, nearly crushing them both. Denzel was smiling at them, and Marlene looked confused.

“What’s being an item mean?” she whispered to Denzel

“It means they’re boyfriend and girlfriend” he whispered back

“Oh!” she said raising her voice; she turned to everyone else “Me and Denzel are an item too!”

Denzel blushed and looked at the floor “Marlene!” he spluttered.

That sent all of the adults into peals of laughter, all except Cloud. He was still sitting in his seat, his brow furrowed and his eyes far away.
Reeve noticed their leader’s strange behaviour, “Cloud?” he asked, concern in his voice. The others stopped laughing and talking to look at the blond.
Cloud blinked a few times and looked up, his eyes still a bit dazed. “Yes Reeve?”

“Is everything ok?”

Cloud stood up abruptly, turning to Tifa, his gaze becoming intense. “I’m happy for you Tifa. I’m happy that you and Reeve have each other”

“Oh, thank you Cloud” Tifa answered, looking perplexed by Cloud’s strange behaviour

An uneasy silence fell over the room, tension hung thickly in the air. Reeve looked from his lover to his leader, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

~

Tifa looked at Cloud, not understanding the sad look in his eyes.

Why should he be upset? He’s never shown any interest in me before. I’ve given him every chance, every opportunity. So he waits until I move on, until I am finally happy?

She felt bitter anger starting to well up in her chest, but she pushed it away. She couldn’t blame Cloud for his ineptitude when it came to relationships, not after all he had been through.
She was sorry that his feelings had been hurt, but she was happy with Reeve. Cloud was her best friend, and that was all.
He was still staring at her, his cerulean eyes swimming with emotion.

“I’m going to go out for a while” he said finally

They all watched as he left the room, closing the door with a bang. They heard Fenrir roaring to life outside, the sound fading as the bike sped away.

“What’s the hell’s wrong with Spiky?” Barret spoke up, breaking the silence

“Nothing” Tifa replied, reaching out to grip Reeve’s hand in her own, “I’m sure he’ll be back soon”

~

Cloud rode Fenrir out into the wastelands surrounding Old Midgar, kicking up a huge plume of dust behind him. He usually loved riding the bike in the desolate desert, loved the feeling of out racing his problems. It didn’t seem to be working this time however.

Did I really expect her to wait forever? Am I really that selfish?

When Tifa had announced her involvement with Reeve he had been shocked. He had held onto this ridiculous thought that he and Tifa would make a family with Denzel, even if they never went beyond being friends. He still wasn’t ready to try getting involved with someone romantically again.
Now Tifa would want to spend more time with Reeve, maybe Reeve would want to move in with them? And where would that leave him? He just couldn’t see himself fitting into that scenario.
He had been riding in aimless circles but it seemed that while lost in his thoughts he had made his way to that cliff overlooking Midgar. The final resting place of a man he had cared about more than anything. A man who had been his world, his only lifeline in the years of torture and experimentation they suffered at the hands of one demented scientist.

He pulled Fenrir over, beside the rusted monument. He reached out and caressed the Buster Sword with a gloved hand.
He felt the familiar grief rise in his chest, threatening to drown him. His eyes blurred with unshed tears for a wasted life, and again he felt himself wish that it had been him that had fallen and that Zack had escaped. That Zack had gone on to the church in Midgar and been reunited with Aerith. Zack would have protected her from Sephiroth, would have succeeded where he had failed miserably.
He knew that this was unhealthy, that both of his dear friends, both of his loves, would want him to move on, and not to brood, it wouldn’t bring them back. It was ridiculous for him to be feeling sorry for himself over what happened with Tifa and Reeve, at least he was alive.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly; he reached behind himself and touched the main body of his new sword. He would go and find some monsters, and let off a little steam. Then he would go home to his friends and he would be grateful for what he had. He blinked away the tears in his eyes and hopped back onto his bike. He paused when he saw a familiar black helicopter in the sky. There was no mistaking the red logo on the side of it. He frowned in irritation.
He watched the helicopter descend into Edge as he started his bike up again and went to find out what ShinRa wanted.
-------------------------


Well there's the second chapter, reviews and ratings are much appreciated