Bullet Catchers

Bullet Catchers


By Jazzbo22
Jazzbo22@hotmail.com


An assassination attempt leaves Rufus questioning his vulnerability. The Turks struggle to keep the President out of harm’s way, but is it enough?

TsengxRufus, RudexReno yaoi, angst

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Chapter 2



"Get the President out of there now!" Heidegger barked orders through the outrageous racket on the roof of the Shinra Building. The helicopter had landed only seconds ago, paramedics pulling Rufus out of his seat, rushing him indoors. Tseng was attended to immediately afterwards, though the President always came first.

Once inside of the building, the medical personnel disinfected Tseng’s shoulder, pulling the bullet out. Thank god for morphine. He experienced mild discomfort but it was a hell of a lot better than doing it without any anesthetic. They had performed and ultrasound but it didn’t appear that any bone or organs had been damaged. The bullet had picked a good place to lodge itself it seemed. A kindly old nurse had Tseng stitched up and off the table before Rufus was done with his own check-up.

Although he hadn’t taken a hit from a bullet, Tseng had been rough in his handling of the President. Circumstances called for him to be quick in evacuating the President, and in the bustle of activity, he hoped he had not cracked one of the young man’s ribs.

As soon as the doctor gave Tseng the go ahead, he was off searching for Rufus. He did not like being separated from him very long- Rufus was his responsibility, should anything happen to him, he would solely take the blame, whether he was meant to or not.

It didn’t take very long- the security surrounding the room where Rufus was held was bountiful. Pushing through the SOLDIERs, uncaring of his ripped and bloodied dress shirt, Tseng entered the room, pleased to see the paramedics just finishing up. Thank god, there didn’t seem to be any visible injuries. Rufus wasn’t holding himself like a man who had a couple broken ribs. Instead, he sat on the edge of the medical bed, looking mighty pissed off. Tseng figured that was good news at least.

"What’s your status?" Tseng leaned close to ask, knowing Rufus did not want to broadcast it. The less the people knew about him, the better. He was somewhat pale, but not entirely worse for wear.

"Slight shock, nothing else." The blonde replied, giving Tseng a once over. He knew his bloodied, ripped shirt looked much more frightening than it actually was. That didn’t matter anymore though. He sighed, eternally grateful that he hadn’t caused Rufus any bodily harm.

"Let me escort you home then."

"What about your shoulder?" Tseng gave an unconcerned shrug.

"It’s wrapped up. I’m fine." He led Rufus out to the Shinra parking lot, a trained hand on his gun the whole time. After an assassination attempt- the first one against Rufus, you could never be sure what creeps were crawling around, anxious to finish the job.

Tseng unlocked the standard Turk black Mercedes, carefully seating himself, not wanting to cause anymore unnecessary pain to his shoulder. Rufus was quiet beside him, buckling his seatbelt before slouching back into the leather interior.

Starting up the engine, Tseng left the confines of the underground parking lot, entering the busy streets of Midgar. It would be no time until the story of the attempted assassination hit the air. Reporters were probably just perfecting their stories, or fluffing their hair, each and every one of them frothing at the mouth, just waiting to see who could be the first one to get the story out on the radio or television.

When that happened, the telephones at Shinra Inc. would be ringing off their hooks, wanting interviews from the President (since it was common knowledge that the Turks did not talk to reporters), people swarming the entrance of the building- it would be outright chaos.

Anyone who chose to go against the President of Shinra Inc., the biggest company in the world, was a dead man. Technically, Rufus might be the President of that company, but metaphorically, he was the President of the world. People would be dying to get the latest scoop on this tidbit of media.

Druggies and drunkards, customers and thieves, respectfully stepped out of the way of the Mercedes. It was well known what that car meant- official Turk business. You didn’t mess with that, unless you wanted your teeth embedded in the sidewalk.

“What’s the plan now?” Rufus asked, staring out the side window. Tseng had to commend him – the man was strong. His voice was clear, he sat up straight. Tseng spared a quick glance to the side to catch Rufus’ reflection in the glass and yes- he even looked a little bored. Rufus had perfected the art of keeping everyone at arms length from his emotions. The old saying associated with him, “no one has ever seen him bleed or cry”, still rang true. Tseng was glad of that. He preferred the first blood that Rufus would spill not be from a bullet in between the eyes. A papercut sat much nicer with him.

“The plan is to keep you in your residence overnight. We’ve upped the security so you should be safe there. Tomorrow I’ll personally escort you into HQ where you can deliver your first message after the ‘incident’. Best to refrain from talking to any reporters until you’ve made that speech. Your secretary has already set it up, and it will be broadcasted internationally.”

“Seems like all bases have been covered then.” Rufus betrayed his cold exterior by rubbing at his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. The weight of the entire situation most definitely affected him. Rufus never had to deal with anything like this. Sure, there were angry mobs from time to time, not everyone loved Shinra, but they were silenced before the President ever took notice of them.

Nearly having your head blown off would be a major wake-up call. Anyone else would’ve shit their pants by now – Rufus, he just looked fatigued, like a headache was all he was dealing with.

Being President just came naturally. Rufus thrived in power positions. Tseng knew for a fact he learned that all from his late father. He had been in the company for years and had watched the former President Shinra in his prime. He had also seen how he had raised Rufus – dealing with his son and dealing within the company was all business to him.

“What is happening with the investigation right now?” Now Rufus was facing him. Tseng could see out of his peripherals that the President was looking at him intently.

“The Turks are on it. Heidegger’s got some of his SOLDIERs on the scene. I’ve called in a personal favour to Randolph Gomez. He used to do quite a lot of work for your father.”

“I remember.”

“It’s all in good hands. I’ll be regrouping with the Turks after I drop you off. We won’t rest until this case is solved.” He heard a small sigh escape Rufus. He was probably more tired than he let on. Hell, Tseng was tired and he hadn’t even started looking into the investigation yet. It was going to be a long day, even longer night. That, and with the sharp ache in his shoulder – would be nice to just go home and chill on the couch with a beer, even a hot shower would be perfect right about now. Business called though, and when that happened, he was lucky to make it through his front door. Assignments like this meant he slept in his office for one or two hours at a time.

Zigzagging through the busy streets of Midgar, they came to the expensive part of town. Houses like these were reserved for the top plates. The people that lived here had never spent a day walking through the slums. It was hard to believe that Midgar wasn’t completely made up of the polluted underground that Tseng was so used to patrolling.

It was easy to pick out Rufus’ estate from all the others. It had high fences, a security booth at the front entrance of the gate with a Shinra guard working at all times. Within the compound there were two more guard stations, and finally, the winding driveway leading up to an impressive mansion. On any normal day Rufus would have the regular guards working as security. This day was a far cry from usual.

The Shinra guard checked Tseng’s ID before letting him through the barbed wire fence. SOLDIERs patrolled around the house, as well as regular Shinra guards closer to the streets. Vicious looking dogs had been brought in, probably more for visual effect than anything.

“This is my protection then.” Rufus spoke, looking around the yard.

“For your safety the security on your property has been increased until the threat is eliminated. The guards change at irregular hours so that anyone who might be monitoring them won’t be able to get a read on when they rotate. We’ve made sure that they won’t have an advantage over us.” Rufus nodded, reaching for the door handle. Tseng exited swiftly and was standing outside Rufus’ door before the President had a chance to plant his shoes on the concrete. Tseng shut the door behind him and walked him up the stairs to the front of his estate.

“If you have any concerns, you can reach me at anytime…we’ll find out who did this sir. Try and get some rest.” Tseng could read Rufus well enough. The younger man looked tired, stressed. Tseng was used to attempts on his life daily – Turks got into fights on a regular basis. Not the President though. Any threats on him should be dealt with before he is even aware of it. Tseng saw this as a failure on everyone’s part. Rufus should never have had to deal with this.

“Get this dealt with by the end of this week, latest. I want your progress report on my desk tomorrow morning.”

“Yes sir.” Tseng waited until Rufus had locked his front door before heading back to his vehicle. What had happened shouldn’t have. All entrances and exits had been accounted for. SOLDIERs and Turks had been placed on every level, the building had been thoroughly checked prior to letting anyone in- he knew he was going to be up all night trying to clear up the whole mess, which didn’t even include the broadcasting network. No doubt the live footage would be sold off to the highest bidder now, if it already wasn’t on the air.

It wasn’t even six o’clock and he could already see the evening passing him by. Shit, he could feel his own headache starting a slow pound in the back of his skull. He hoped Reno, Rude, or Gomez had come up with some sort of lead while he was out. If they couldn’t come up with anything…Tseng didn’t even want to think about that.

Pulling off into the busy Midgar streets, Tseng pulled out his PHS. A familiar voice greeted him.

“Rude.”

“What’s going on?”

“You’re not going to like this boss…”


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“Fuck, fuck FUCK!” Reno was standing underneath a grate that had been so obviously the point of entry. They must have penetrated it quietly, otherwise Reno had no idea how Elena could not have heard them behind her. She had been standing only feet away.

The grate had been cleanly – and silently removed. It was sitting just inside the air duct when they had discovered it. Now it was in the labs being tested for fingerprints. Reno had already climbed inside the air duct and had followed it in both directions. One way had connected directly to the roof, the other had connected to the first and second floors.

“Whoever did this was good. Not any typical gang, these guys were definitely pros.” Reno muttered, more to Rude than anything. Randolph Gomez was off doing his own thing, and the SOLDIERs? Whatever Heidegger had ordered. Reno knew Tseng had personally called in Gomez, so the man must be good. Reno wasn’t about to get in his way, especially since right now he looked mighty pissed off about something.

Other than the grate, nothing jumped out as a big clue. The whole operation had gone smoothly for whoever had done it. No doors had been breached, no guards had been killed. In fact, the only casualty had been Elena. Well, and Tseng.

The guards that had been patrolling the first and second floors had been brought in for questioning. The roof had been ruled out since both Tseng and Rufus had been there. If anything had been askew, Tseng’s eagle eye would’ve noticed it. The boss didn’t miss a thing.

“If you were a terrorist, where would you pop out from?” He sauntered down the hallway on the first floor where the grate was located. Nothing hit him as unusual. The place looked as well kept as if the custodian had just passed through.

“We’ll learn more after the guards have been interrogated.” Reno heard the last of Rude’s phone call. Coming to stand beside him, he took in Rude’s grim expression. Looks like the boss man’s stony expression infected people through the phones as well.

“Tseng’s pretty pissed eh?” Rude’s curt nod answered Reno. When Tseng was angry – it was ugly. He’s a silent man when angry. Then he cuts you up and you didn’t even have a chance to see it coming. Reno had felt it a couple times. Especially that time he was desperate for a vacation after being declined for so long. He had applied for maternity leave and…let’s just say when it passed Tseng’s desk he was not a happy camper.

“He’s going to be here in fifteen minutes.” What? Oh, it speaks. Rude was talking to him.

“Well then. We’d better find something useful to show him besides the screamingly obvious grate-removal we have up top. Elena’s in a coma so she’s not going to be any help to us. Last I heard she was banged up pretty bad. I know that’ll ruffle Tseng’s feathers even more.” Rude didn’t even bother agreeing. Status report for Elena didn’t look too good.

Reno leaned against one of the walls, hands in his pockets. As far as he could tell, the whole damn thing had been one giant failure on their parts. Never before had security been breached so badly that the President’s life was directly in jeopardy. He could just imagine all the copycats getting wet thinking about doing the same thing. Their jobs just got a lot harder.

Rude perched himself on the wall opposite him. Well, perched was the wrong word. Rude was too much of an opposing figure to just perch, like a little birdie. The man was a wall. Rude stood like a wall across from him, his thick arms crossed against a broad chest. Now, if Rude had been standing in this place when the terrorists came through, they wouldn’t have stood a chance at getting past him. Reno made a mental note to suggest it for next time. Yessir, Rude the wall is coming to the rescue.

“We’re going to be here all night aren’t we?” Reno asked, deadpan. Rude’s lips tightened into a flat line. Yup, they were going to be here all night. That was Rude showing his displeasure.

“I hope they have coffee. I could really use one. I would say a beer but I think I see boss man – yeah, Tseng’s here. I thought you said fifteen minutes? Maybe he meant fifteen seconds. Quick, look busy.” Tseng had come around the corner, his special Turk homing beacon spot on. For some reason it really worked, especially when Reno was doing something he shouldn’t have. It’s like getting caught with your hand down your pants – Tseng always walked in and then it was awkward.

“Hello boss.” Reno greeted, coming to stand beside Rude. Tseng stopped in front of them.

“No word from the interrogation yet?” He asked smoothly. Reno supposed it was entirely a Wutaian thing, having a smooth voice even when pissed, looking elegant even though he had been shot. Looks like the big bad boss didn’t even have time to change his shirt. He was still covered with his own now dry blood, looking like something out of a horror movie. Well, the clothes anyways. Tseng’s face and hair were always impeccable. No one could ever disturb that. Even when he was swiftly removing the President from the building Tseng’s stoic expression had remained the same. He was destined to remain coldly handsome forever. Reno was jealous. How did he keep his long hair so clean and in place all the time? Well, he probably wasn’t combing the slums on a daily basis, in and out of bars looking for the latest suspect like he and Rude were. Tseng worked in HQ alongside the President, unless the Turks desperately needed him.

It seemed Rude had already answered him, because if it were possible, Tseng just got more quiet, more angry. Don’t hurt us please.

“All of this doesn’t sit well with me. Rude, I want you back at HQ, in the interrogation room. It shouldn’t have been that easy to get all the way up to the rafters. Reno, you’re going to all the broadcasting networks. I want copies of all the tapes of today’s incident. Maybe we can spot something from that. Go over it with a fine-toothed comb. Any tapes that look like they might be useful are on my desk, five hours. I want the both of you reporting to me at 0100. We won’t leave HQ until we have something of significance.”

Great, how come Rude gets to kick teeth in, and he had to watch tapes forever? Sometimes life wasn’t fair.

“Gomez will also be joining us. If you haven’t already been introduced I suggest you do so soon. We’ll be working with him up until this is cleared up. Any information you discover can be shared with him. Don’t speak to SOLDIERs, don’t speak to grunts. If reporters are on you the only words you’ll be speaking are ‘no comment’.”

“Jeez Tseng, are you having trust issues?” The look he shot him told Reno enough.

“We are keeping this quiet for now. No more slip-ups. Everyone’s a suspect.” With that, Tseng turned, walking towards the far side of the conference room, towards Gomez.

“Hey Rude, what is this Gomez guy doing anyways?” Rude just shrugged.

“Maybe we should actually talk to him, if we’re going to be working so close. I like to know who’s doing what on the team. You know, avoiding stepping on each other’s toes. And hey, it’s no fair you get to be part of the interrogation unit, while I have to run to news networks. It’s so goddamn boring. And all I get to say is ‘no comment’.”

“This time, don’t give the bird to the reporters when you leave.” Rude offered, the hint of a grin appearing. Reno remembered that. For some reason it had been a real spectacle. Tseng had not been happy with him then as well. Jeez, why did he even keep him around? Oh yeah, he could kill with his bare hands. And was good with C4. And his moral compass was lacking. Well, he sure sounded like the ideal Turk candidate. Throw in keen and observant and he might as well be the golden worker.

“Let’s go visit this Gomez guy.” They walked over to where Tseng was standing with the man, probably exchanging details. Gomez had looked pissed earlier, probably because he had found something. Reno hoped so. They both looked up as Reno and Rude approached, stopping their hushed whispers.

“Reno, Rude, this is Randolph Gomez. He’s worked with Shinra for the past twenty years. Mostly as a spy, computer specialist, occasional right-hand man to the President.”

“So the go-to guy?” Reno asked, shaking his hand. Gomez gave him a ghost of a smile.

“You could say that.”

“Gomez’ll be pouring over security tapes, shift logs. Seems he may have found something interesting there.”

“Yes. Though I have to do more investigating before I can really comment on it. I don’t want to lead anyone on with false information or ideas. It seems like the cameras were tampered with but I have to look into it more.”

“That’s where Reno comes in. He’ll be looking at all the live footage from the reporters. That should definitely give some insight. Rude will be part of the interrogation team, scare up whoever was responsible guarding the places that were breached. We’ll meet in my office at 0100, so that gives you seven hours to gather whatever evidence you can. Don’t make me disappointed.”

Tseng had left then, off on his own assignment from the president. Gomez had given them a quick nod before retreating to the security room, off to figure out what had gone on in all the hallways that were supposedly being guarded. Reno gave Rude a mock salute before heading to the door.

“I’m off to schmooze with the networks. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck.” Reno walked towards the exit, pulling out his PHS.

“Hi. I’m with the Turks. I’m picking up all the footage you have of today’s events. Have it at the front counter in half an hour…no ma’am, if it’s not there I have no problem going in and extracting it myself, I just hope for your sake it doesn’t come to that.” Hanging up, he unlocked his company car, the standard black Mercedes. If all went well, he could be looking over the tapes and be done by the time he was supposed to be at Tseng’s meeting. God, coffee was needed right about now.




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Thanks for sticking with this and reading another chapter! I hope to get faster with updates. Don't want to leave you guys hanging! Anyways, please r&r, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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