Thanks for the memories

“Thanks for the Memories”
A Reno fan fiction
Chapter 23: “Hope”
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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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Something big was happening when Reno and Rude got to Edge. It seemed like most of the population was gathered in the square and the two Turks started to approach, but something made Reno glance up at one of the half-constructed buildings across the street.

“Sir!” Reno gasped when he met Rufus’s eyes across the distance. The President was on the twenty-sixth floor of the building. The floor he was on didn’t have any windows yet and he sat perilously close to the edge. Reno started toward the building but Rufus gave a barely perceptible shake of his head, communicating with his stern gray eyes that he didn’t want the Turks rushing to help him. Kadaj came up behind him and Reno snarled with helpless frustration, understanding that any attempt to go to his aid might result in the remnant pushing Rufus out of the building to his death.

People started to scream from the direction of the square and Reno turned at the sound. “What the hell’s going on?” he snapped.

Rude spotted a strange, wicked-looking beast pouncing on a civilian. “Someone’s attacking the center of town, I guess.” He grabbed Reno by the arm. “Come on, partner. We’ll find a way to help the boss after we see what’s going on.”

Reno shot one more look up at Rufus, promising him with his eyes that he’d find some way to get him out of Kadaj’s grasp. He hurried after his partner toward the monument in the center of town and as soon as they reached the central area, they were met with a wave of panicked humanity and shadowy beasts. Rude hurled his body to one side as one of the monsters leaped for him and he quickly drew his gun and shot it until it stopped moving. Reno frowned as he caught sight of the monument. Standing around its base were all of the infected children and they looked like they were in some sort of trance. Kadaj’s two brothers were at the base of the statue and they were tugging on the chains connected to it.

Reno would have scoffed at the sight of the two men trying to pull down the huge monument but he’d seen how strong Kadaj was. With their inhuman origins, they just might be strong enough to pull it off. Why the hell they were trying was another matter. Reno’s cellphone rang and he picked it up and dodged a panicked woman that ran straight at him.

“Reno here,” he grunted.

“It’s Tseng,” answered a tired voice on the other line.

“Yo, where are you man?” Reno looked around, half expecting to see the Wutaian materialize out of thin air.

“We’ve arrived in the city and we’re tracking Rufus,” answered the Turk Director. “You and Rude should concentrate on distracting the other remnants to give us some time.”

“I can tell you right where the boss is,” Reno said as he looked over his shoulder at the building he’d seen him in. “You know that office building that’s half-built, near the highway? It’s overlooking the center of town.”

“I think I know which one you’re talking about, yes. The tracking monitor seems to agree with you.”

Reno wondered for a moment how Rufus had found the time to plant a bug on himself, but then he remembered how they’d found him after Diamond Weapon fired on the old ShinRa headquarters. Evidently Kadaj hadn’t thought to take the President’s cellphone from him and toss it away. “He looked like he was okay when I saw him,” Reno said, “but Kadaj might send him on a one-way trip to the street at any moment, yo. Be careful, man.”

“Of course,” Tseng answered calmly. “Do what you can to stall his brothers while Elena and I go after Rufus.”

Reno hung up the phone and nodded to his partner, drawing his weapon and advancing on the two distracted remnants. He slapped his EMR against his shoulder and smirked at the silver-haired men. “And what are we up to?” he called out cockily.

They paused and looked at the pair. “We know Mother is here,” said the one with the long, flowing silver hair in a sleepy voice.

“Yeah,” said the muscular one with a frown. “This…uh…this thing? ShinRa built it.”

Reno snorted. “Damn, you’re just too clever for us, yo.”

“The thing is, you’re wrong.” Added Rude.

“Sorry kiddies, we just don’t know where your Ma is.” Reno shrugged and shared a laugh with his partner.

The graceful one took a step forward, tilting his head dreamily. “I suppose the peons aren’t trusted enough to know,” he said with a smirk.

Reno scowled at him and muttered out the corner of his mouth to Rude: “Okay, you take Dum-Dum and I’ll take the walking shampoo commercial.”

“Solid,” Rude agreed.

Reno charged in with a yell and activated his EMR while Rude followed. A burst of energy exploded in the clouds above the city but neither Turk paid attention to it until a huge, monstrous form perched on top of the monument. Reno skidded to a halt and stared up at the beast, forgetting all about his initial target in his shock. He wasn’t paying attention and he flung his weapon back, hitting Rude in the nose with it.

“Shit,” Reno gasped.

“Oh, hell no,” Rude muttered.

“Where’d it come from? Looks like a Bahamut summons!” Reno backed up a couple of steps as the beast began to tear at the monument with its claws and mouth.

“Who cares, let’s motor,” Rude said sensibly, still clutching his smarting nose. He narrowly avoided getting smacked in the face again as his partner did an about-face and swung his weapon wildly. “Watch what you’re doing with that, man!”

Reno and Rude charged away from the roaring dragon-beast and the redhead skidded to a halt again when he ran past one of the dazed children. “Shit,” he swore for the second time as he knelt and grabbed the kid. He grunted when the little boy absently stuck his fingers up his nostrils. “Don’t make me change my mind about saving your ass, kid,” the Turk warned as he jerked his head away from the groping fingers. He picked the boy up and continued running. Rude was at his side and he noticed that the bald man was carrying two kids—one under each arm.

“Is it coming after us?” Reno yelled.

“Why don’t you ask it?” Rude snapped in annoyance.

They heard the flap of huge wings and they pushed their tiring bodies for further speed, unsure of what Bahamut was going to do next. The answer came when the buildings around them lit up with blue-white light and a concussive force hit them from behind and hurled them through the air. Reno shouted and held the kid tight against his body as he landed painfully several feet later. He heard Rude groaning beside him and he rolled off of the kid and struggled to get to his feet. He heard booted footsteps behind him and the calm, droning voice of his chosen opponent.

“Are we having fun yet?” the long-haired man asked in a softly amused voice.

~And people think I’m crazy. These guys make me look like a regular Mellow Melvin, yo.~

Reno looked up at his enemy and shot a reckless smile at him. “I’m havin’ the time of my life!” He abruptly jumped up and laid into the remnant with everything he had, while his partner faced off with the bigger guy. For a while they held their own and they finally learned that Reno’s opponent was called Yazoo and Rude’s was called Loz. Reno was starting to think they were winning, until Yazoo aimed a kick at him that sent him flying through the air. He managed to catch himself on an overhead street sign but in his struggle to hang onto the pole it was attached to he knocked it off. He heard a metallic clunk as it fell and he looked down to see that he’d managed to drop the sign on poor Rude’s head.

“Sonofa—” Rude grumbled as he shook his head to clear it.

“Oh, fuck,” Reno groaned as he lost his grip and fell. Rude had just managed to catch his balance after getting hit with the sign when Reno fell on top of him.

“Oof!” The bald Turk’s breath exploded in a rush as the smaller man’s weight knocked him to the ground. As the two of them struggled to their feet yet again, the two remnants they were fighting closed in on them again and asked where their Mother was.

“Mother, schmother,” Reno grumbled as he dusted off his suit. “It’s Jenova’s fucking head!”

Both of the silver-haired men took grave offense at that and the big one even sounded like he was going to cry. Rude apologized absently and Reno followed suit until he realized who he was apologizing to and why.

“What the hell am I saying?!” the redhead growled. He leaped high into the air over Loz and Rude’s heads and Yazoo did the same. While Loz looked up at the spectacle, Rude took advantage of the moment and slugged him good and hard. Reno slammed his EMR into Yazoo and sent him tumbling to the ground. When the redhead landed he grinned cockily at his partner and gave him the thumbs up.

The celebration only lasted until Loz came barreling at the two of them again. The impact sent them skidding across the pavement and Reno had fresh road rash on his chest and left arm to go with all of the new bruises when he and Rude dragged themselves off of the pavement. Yazoo and Loz closed in on them again, laughing darkly as the partners panted and tried to find the strength to keep fighting.

Several things happened at once.

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

“This is too much fun, sir!” Kadaj admired the glow of the cooling materia on his wrist and he smiled at Rufus. “What do you think I should do next?”

Rufus looked up at the unstable young man and summoned what was left of his strength. “I think we’ve had enough fun for today,” he said as he stood up and yanked the concealing blanket off of his body. Kadaj stared at him with wide eyes as he held up the black box he’d had with him all along, waving it teasingly at the teenager. “A good son would have known,” Rufus said with a wicked smile.

“Mother,” Kadaj whimpered.

Rufus threw the box over the side of the building and Kadaj’s eyes followed it frantically as it began to fall to the concrete below. The teenager turned to him and glared malevolently before shouting with incoherent fury. He let loose with a spell, striking Rufus in the head. The force of the strike unraveled the blonde’s bandages and forced him over the side of the building.

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Reno was vaguely aware that Cloud and his friends were taking care of Bahamut and he got his confirmation that they succeeded when the summoned beast fell from the sky in the distance. The resulting crash of its body shook the ground and Reno had to brace his legs to keep from falling. He and Rude shared a brief smirk at Strife’s success, but their own situation was far from resolved. As they prepared for their opponents’ next attack, there was an explosion in the building where Rufus and Kadaj were. Both Turks and the two remnants looked up to see Rufus Shinra falling from the building.

“Sir, no!” Reno and Rude both hollered at the same time.

Kadaj dove out of the burning building and Rufus was firing his gun at him with cool detachment, seemingly unconcerned that he was falling to his death. The teenager was reaching desperately for a familiar black box that was falling before him and one of Rufus’s bullets hit it just before Kadaj got his hands on it.

Reno was just about to start forward and throw himself out beneath Rufus to break his fall, even if it killed him. Tseng and Elena appeared on either side of the building and at first he thought they were shooting at Rufus, but the guns they fired were specialized ShinRa devices meant to save lives rather than end them. A pair of nets spread out beneath the falling President as the Turks fired and Reno heard his lover’s soft grunt as the netting caught him and stopped his fall.

Kadaj landed on his feet in the street, unharmed. Reno and Rude were only steps away but the redhead’s knees were shaking so bad with relief he could hardly remain standing, let alone attack the teenager. Rude started toward Kadaj and the other two remnants took a few steps toward the bald man to stop him. The heavy rumble of an approaching motorcycle engine gave them all pause and they looked to see Cloud Strife speeding down the street towards them on his custom bike. His sword was drawn and there was murder in his bright blue eyes.

Kadaj’s only goal was to receive Jenova’s cells for the reunion, so rather than stay and fight with the blonde, he ran to his bike. His two brothers forgot about the Turks and did the same, following him to guard him from Cloud. Reno looked up at Rufus’s snared, unmoving form and the strength returned to his legs with a rush of adrenaline-fueled desperation. Tseng and Elena held the nets steady while Reno climbed the construction canvas stretched over the bottom floors of the building to get the President. Rude followed at a slower pace, unable to match Reno’s nimble dexterity and passion.

“Rufus,” called the redhead as he reached the floor his boss was suspended over and inched his way over to him. Rufus groaned softly in response and Reno sighed in relief. “I’m coming for ya boss! Hang on.”

Rufus stirred and turned his head, looking blearily at the redhead as he nimbly made his way over to him. He cracked a weak smile. “Determination, thy name is Reno.” He sighed and closed his eyes, his body feeling strangely light. He lost consciousness again just as Reno got to him and carefully unhooked the grappling claws that attached the nets to the building. When he came out of his swoon again, Rude was with the redhead and they were lowering him down with Tseng and Elena’s help. The blackness again took him until his Turks replaced him in his wheelchair and stood around him.

“Help…stop them,” Rufus said drowsily to Reno as he struggled to make out the redhead’s fine-sculpted features. Reno was leaning over him and his face was only inches away, but the ordeal Rufus had just been through sapped what was left of his strength and his eyes couldn’t even focus properly. “You and Rude…are the only ones…fit enough to do it. Give Strife…whatever aid you can. End this.”

Reno nodded. “Yes sir.”

Rufus heard the husky note in the redhead’s voice and he smiled weakly. “I’m still…here…Reno.”

He felt the Turk’s hand stroke his face and he raised his own hand with effort and patted it. “Go.”

Reno straightened up and swallowed, forcing a cocky grin as he looked to Rude. “Well partner, it looks like the shitheads took the intercity highway. Let’s get to the chopper and head ‘em off, yo.” He nodded to Tseng and Elena, who had found the blanket Rufus was wearing and were covering him back up with it to keep him warm. “Great working with you, guys.”

Elena frowned at him as he and Rude jogged away. “Why did he say that?”

“I don’t think he believes he’ll see us again,” Tseng answered dully.

Rufus closed his blurry eyes and wondered if he’d just sent his favorite Turk to his death.

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Reno followed the motorcycle fight between Cloud and Kadaj’s two “brothers”. He hovered the chopper over it until the three of the embattled men entered one of the long tunnels in the highway. Kadaj was on a different ramp, trying to speed away while his fellow remnants distracted Strife. Reno increased the aircraft’s speed and flew to the other side of the tunnel, touching down on the road outside the exit. He and Rude got out of the chopper and walked to the mouth of the tunnel. Reno lit a cigarette and took the impressive bundle of dynamite his partner offered him.

“So partner,” Reno said after taking a deep drag off his clove. “This thing have any bite to it?” He nodded at the bomb meaningfully.

Rude held up his own bomb—sister to the one he’d given Reno. “ShinRa technology at its finest, man. If nothing else, it’s…flashy.”

“Sexy,” Reno smirked.

“You’ll love it,” Rude promised.

“Guess we’re clocking out early today,” Reno sighed. He lifted his arm and studied the bangle he’d put on his wrist. Rude likewise wore one and they were both equipped with protective materia that should—in theory—shield their bodies from the heat of the explosion. The concussion and the flying shrapnel that would result was another matter, though. It was all in the timing.

They waited together and listened to the sounds of clashing metal and growling engines drawing closer from within the depths of the tunnel. After a while they spotted Cloud riding toward them at break-neck speed. Reno waved at the blonde impulsively as he and Rude set their bombs on the asphalt and set them to go off. A reckless little smile spread over Reno’s lips and he saw Cloud’s head whip around to look at him as the blonde fighter sped by. A few seconds later, Yazoo and Loz came around the curve in the tunnel and the dynamite exploded in a fit of sparking fireworks and hot napalm.

“You crazy sonofabitch!” Reno thought he heard Cloud yell in the distance.

The last thing the redhead saw was Cloud’s bike being propelled into the air by the concussive force of the blast. Rude caught him around the waist and accidentally knocked his head against the pavement as he covered his body protectively with his own. Reno felt the sharp pain of the impact and then his world went black.

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

When Reno came too, he was slung over his partner’s shoulders and being carried. He groaned and lifted his head with effort. “Yo Rude…we ain’t dead?” His throat felt raw and the road-rash on his chest and arm burned like mad, but he was un-singed and nothing felt broken.

“I’m in too much pain to be dead,” the bald man grunted as he squatted down and let Reno slide off of him. “Think you can walk, Red?”

“Let’s find out,” Reno answered hoarsely. He stumbled a little but didn’t fall as he was set onto his feet. “Looks like the old legs work, yo. How are you holding up?”

Rude rubbed his right shoulder. “I’ll live. I won’t like it, but I’ll live. The chopper’s history so we’ll have to walk back to the boss and the others on foot.”

“Did we get ‘em though?” Reno wondered, looking up at the overpass. He blinked and looked at his partner again. “How the hell did you get down from there with me draped over your shoulders?”

“I jumped.”

Reno’s eyes bugged out. “You JUMPED? How come we ain’t roadkill, then?”

“Wall spell,” Rude explained, raising his wrist and pointing out a cracked, yellow materia fused into the bangle. “It killed the materia but it broke our fall.”

Reno gave a low whistle. “When you take a gamble, you don’t play around.” He put an arm around the bigger man’s shoulders and sighed. “So do you think we got ‘em or what?”

“I saw them go flying when the explosion went off,” Rude said with a brief smirk. “I didn’t see any body parts though. Your guess is as good as mine.”

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

Rufus had slipped into a coma by the time Reno and Rude got back to where they’d left him and the others. Reno squatted before the wheelchair and peered up at his face through the folds of the blanket, placing his hands on his knees and squeezing gently.

“We did like you said, boss. We couldn’t do anything about Kadaj but we gave the other two a nasty surprise and got them off Strife’s back. It’s up to him now, I guess.” Reno swallowed and pressed his lips together. “Rufus?”

The President was unresponsive and his pale lashes remained lowered. His breathing was shallow but even. Tseng put a hand on Reno’s shoulder comfortingly. “He’s feeling no pain now. For that at least, we can be thankful.”

Reno’s chest constricted and his hands curled into fists on top of his unconscious lover’s knees. “Goddammit,” he swore in a quivering, ragged voice. He struggled to hold his emotions in check, breathing heavily with the effort not to break down and cry into the comatose man’s lap.

Rude started to put his arms around him but Reno pushed him away and shook his head. “Nuh-uh…that just…makes it worse. I’m gonna go have a smoke, man.”

His fellow Turks watched him go around the corner of the building, not fooled in the least. Reno was going to grieve in private. He was a very passionate man but he hated to cry in front of others, thinking it would make him look weak.

Elena’s tears steadily dripped down her face but as the woman in the group, she didn’t have a macho reputation to uphold. Tseng was somber and quiet, occasionally reaching out to stroke Rufus’s blanket-covered head. Rude stood frozen, staring after his partner with a tense jaw. He could faintly hear Reno’s ragged weeping and his partner’s misery hurt more than Rufus’s impending death. He respected Rufus and he was one of the most loyal Turks there were, but Rude had never developed the strong connection to him that Reno and Tseng had.

On the other side of the building, Reno crouched against the wall and held his head in his hands. The pain was so great it made him physically ache. He’d bitten his lip so hard to hold back his sobs that it was bleeding and he rocked to and fro as he tried to get a hold of himself. He heard a crack of thunder and the air temperature dropped, but it was distant and unimportant to him. It wasn’t until it started to get dark at an alarming rate that the redhead raised his head and looked up at the sky with reddened eyes. He quieted and frowned as he watched clouds roll in and spin over Midgar like a maelstrom.

“Now what?” Reno whispered, getting to his feet and rubbing his eyes. People ran by him on the street, some heading for shelter and others seeking a better vantage point to see what was causing the strange weather. He pulled a handkerchief out of his blazer and blew his nose before walking back around the corner to rejoin his companions.

Elena winced as a fork of lightning ripped across the sky over their heads, close enough to leave the scent of burnt ozone. Thunder boomed loud enough to shake windows and she pressed closer to Tseng. Rude thoughtfully wheeled Rufus into the entrance to the parking garage of the unfinished building, thinking that the metal chair could attract a lightning strike if left in the open. Reno came back and yelled something that got drowned out in another thunderclap. He was pointing toward the center of Midgar and the old Headquarters.

Tseng opened up his briefcase and searched inside until he found a pair of small binoculars. He brought them to his eyes and scanned upwards, toward the old city where Reno was pointing. He thought he saw activity around the old ShinRa tower and he frowned and adjusted the focus. When he spotted Strife fighting a familiar figure with flowing silver hair and an abnormally long, slim sword, he nearly dropped the binoculars.

“Am I imagining it, or is someone fighting up there?” Reno said as loudly as his ravaged voice would let him.

“You aren’t imagining it,” Tseng answered as he handed the binoculars to his subordinate. “I know what’s causing this storm, now.”

Reno took the specs and peered through them, aiming where he’d seen the flashes of metal and collapsing structures. “Holy fuck,” he rasped. He was just in time to see Sephiroth drop the top of the tower on Cloud. He thought Blondie was as good as dead but the fighter exploded into motion. It was too far away and it happened too fast for Reno to see more than a blur of activity and the flash of Cloud’s swords, but when the debris settled the blonde was still alive and Sephiroth was coming after him.

“Rude, you’ve gotta see this,” Reno said, motioning to his partner. “I’ve never seen a fucking fight like this before, yo.” He was so amazed by the spectacle that the return of Sephiroth hardly even fazed him.

Rude came up beside him and Reno handed over the binoculars. The bald man looked through them and let Reno guide him. At first he didn’t see anything but then he caught sight of the combatants on what was left of a nearby roof. They’d evidently moved from the spot Reno and Tseng had been watching. Rude’s eyebrows shot up and he pulled the binoculars away.

“Sephiroth?” He asked in a disbelieving tone.

“Yeah, looks like it,” Reno answered.

“It seems Kadaj was successful in his efforts,” Tseng guessed. “I’m not entirely clear on it, but from what I understand of what Rufus said the true purpose of this ‘reunion’ that the remnants were striving to complete was to revive Sephiroth. If I’m correct, he’s using the corruption of spirit energy from the Lifestream to create this storm.”

“Yo, why aren’t his buddies helping?” Reno asked as he looked up and noticed Cid Highwind’s airship hovering over the city.

“Perhaps they don’t think they can be of any help,” Tseng reasoned. “Or they could be waiting for a more opportune moment. I trust they know best.”

Elena watched next and she sighed with admiration as the two swordsmen fought violently. She winced when she saw Sephiroth stab Cloud in the shoulder and lift him on the tip of his sword. “I think it’s about to be all over for him…and us,” she said uncertainly.

“Lemme see,” Reno said. She handed the binoculars to him, not really wanting to see Cloud die. He looked through them and clenched his jaw as he watched. “Come on, Blondie…don’t let him carve you up.”

Cloud moved suddenly and he was free of the impaling length of Sephiroth’s sword. He twirled his own sword over his head and Reno’s brows furrowed as the weapon looked like it split apart into several smaller swords.

“What the hell?” Reno muttered. He then witnessed the most spectacular fighting combo he’d ever seen. Cloud shot around in a blur, grabbing the swords one by one and stabbing Sephiroth with them in passing until none were left. The redhead jumped a little in startled surprise when a single black wing sprouted from Sephiroth’s back and curled around him like a cocoon. He’d seen the phenomenon years ago on Genesis but he’d never witnessed it happening to Sephiroth before.

The dark clouds began to evaporate and beams of sunlight escaped through the softer cloud-cover. Sephiroth seemed to evaporate and a smaller form took his place and fell to the ground. Reno narrowed his eyes and finally identified it as Kadaj.

“Yo, I think Strife did it,” he said uncertainly.

Rude wheeled Rufus out from under the shelter again and Tseng checked his vitals. “We should get him to a hospital,” the Wutaian said softly.

“They can’t do anything for him,” Elena replied, her feelings torn between relief that the threat of Sephiroth was apparently over with and depression over Rufus’s condition.

“Perhaps not,” Tseng answered, “but there’s a chance—however slim it may be—that a cure can be found before he passes away. If nothing else, they can prolong his life to increase his chances.”

Ordinarily, Tseng was the sort of man that accepted death when it came. His willingness to take extreme measures for Rufus’s sake showed how much the man meant to him. Reno nodded in agreement and approached the President’s still form. The others gathered around as well and gazed down at their leader in respectful silence. A warm, gentle rain began to fall and Reno looked up at the sky for a moment and sighed.

“Uh, guys?” Elena said suddenly. “Guys…look at the boss!”

Reno’s heart stopped for a moment and his eyes snapped down to Rufus, expecting to find him dead. His eyebrows hedged in confusion when he saw what was happening. Where the rain struck the infected skin on Rufus’s body, a green vapor rose.

~Shit, is it melting him or something?~

Reno came very close to grabbing the handles of his lover’s wheelchair and running him back into shelter, until he saw that the discoloration from the infection began to fade. For a moment, all four of the Turks stared down at Rufus in stunned surprise. Tseng came out of his daze first and he quickly pulled the sheet off of Rufus and worked at his clothes and bandages to expose him more fully to the cleansing rain.

“Are you stripping him naked?” Elena asked with wide eyes.

Tseng paused, considering it seriously for a moment. “Actually, that isn’t a bad idea. The three of you take his sheet and hold it around him so that we don’t inadvertently give any passing civilians an interesting view. If this rain is truly curing the stigma then we can’t afford to worry about modesty.”

“Oh my god,” Elena said with a blush. She took her ends of the sheet and held them out wide. Reno and Rude did the same, creating a makeshift privacy curtain for Tseng and Rufus.

A couple passed by on the street and looked at them curiously.

“Got a problem?” Reno snapped, prompting them to hurry away.

Tseng worked quickly to remove the President’s clothes. The green vapors rose steadily from Rufus’s body as the rain struck his skin and washed away his infection. Elena glanced down at the man’s pale chest and squeaked when Tseng’s hands deftly undid his belt buckle and unzipped his fly. She averted her eyes and shut them tightly to avoid the temptation of ogling her boss.

Reno shook his head and rolled his eyes at Rude. The only reason he could think for Elena to be this skittish over the sight of the boss’s bare flesh was the fact that he was her boss. He focused his attention to the rise and fall of Rufus’s damp chest and he was sure his breathing was growing stronger and deeper.

~Open your eyes, baby. Wake up for us.~

Reno bit his lip and waited tensely. After a few moments, Rufus was stark nude in the wheelchair and his clothes were in a pile on the concrete. Tseng smoothed the President’s damp hair away from his eyes and murmured softly to him. Reno hooted hoarsely with excitement when Rufus’s head lolled and his eyelids fluttered.

“Sir?” Rude said, “Are you awake?”

Rufus mumbled something and lifted his head. His eyes opened and blinked. They were still covered with a milky film but the rainwater leaked into them and they cleared. The first person those clear gray eyes focused on was Reno.

“Hey boss,” rasped the redhead with a huge grin. “How ya feeling?”

Rufus turned his head slowly and took in his surroundings, looking at each of them in turn before peering at the sheet they held around him and finally looking down at his body. “Confused,” he said softly. “Someone explain to me why I’m naked and wet.”

“The rain possesses a property that’s cleansing the Geostigma away,” Tseng answered with a soft smile. “I undressed you to expose you to it completely, Koibito. Our apologies for putting you in such an indignant position, but I assumed you’d prefer to be cured over being clothed.”

“I…see…” Rufus said slowly. He lifted an arm experimentally. The muscles were still weak and a little sluggish to respond but he could feel his strength returning little by little. “What caused this rain?”

“It started after Strife took out Sephiroth,” Rude answered.

“Sephiroth?” Rufus repeated with a frown. “Then, Kadaj succeeded in his mission?”

“Yeah, but Cloud took care of it anyway, yo,” Reno said, “Sephiroth’s toast and I guess Kadaj and his gang are too.”

Rufus sighed and relaxed. “I’d like my clothing, please.”

Tseng started to retrieve the pile of garments but Reno shook his head. “Nuh-uh…I don’t want him putting those back on. They were rubbing against his skin when he had the stigma, man.”

“What would you suggest, Fox?” Rufus questioned dryly. “Shall I streak through Edge in celebration? By the way, you’re dropping your part of the sheet and that old woman is gawking at me.”

Reno turned his head to see that Rufus wasn’t pulling his leg. The old woman passing by on the street was staring at Rufus and she wasn’t watching where she was going. She stumbled a little and Reno quickly pulled the sheet back up and snickered.

“Look at it this way boss,” he whispered, “You probably just gave her the first thrill she’s had in ages, yo.”

Rufus smirked and covered his groin with his hands just in case one of his Turks slipped again. “I can’t very well sit here all day.” He saw that Elena’s cheeks were as red as an apple and her eyes were squeezed tightly shut. “Don’t be such a prude, Elena. I’ve got nothing you haven’t seen before.”

“Sorry sir,” she apologized, biting her lip. “I just think it would be disrespectful.”

Reno snorted, thinking it was more like she was afraid she’d get a nosebleed if she gave the boss a good inspection. ~Good thing it ain’t Tseng sitting here naked. She’d probably cream her panties or faint. Funny how a girl that’s having a fling with a hot young doctor can’t look at her boss’s body without going red-faced and squeaky.~

“Wait here,” Tseng suggested. “There’s a clothing shop not far from here.” He ducked under the sheet and hurried away.

Reno’s arms were getting sore…especially the one with the road rash. His shirt was sticking to the scraped skin and he winced and dropped the sheet a little.

“For Shiva’s sake, just wrap me up in the blanket,” Rufus sighed when a couple more people got flashed.

“The blanket was against your skin too,” Reno argued stubbornly as he pulled the material up again.

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Rufus said with annoyance. “This is absolutely ridiculous.”

Elena dropped her end a little and Rufus cleared his throat and gestured to her. She couldn’t see the gesture since her eyes were still tightly shut but she realized she was lowering the sheet and she quickly brought it back up.

“You can stop snickering, Reno,” Rufus said when the redhead averted his face and shook with laughter he couldn’t quite hold in.

A small group of teenagers were running past and they stopped and stared curiously at the Turks. “Yo, mind your own business,” Reno said to them between snickers. “Beat it, man!”

His command lacked bite because of his laughter and Rude gave the teens a stern look and reinforced the order. “Scram,” he said simply. They were intimidated enough by the powerfully built bald man to move on.

Rufus sighed and shook his head. “Reno, when all of this is finished…” he warned.

“Sorry boss,” the redhead grinned down at him. “I’m just glad to see you acting more like yourself again.” He tilted his head and admired the blonde’s body for a moment. Rufus had lost some weight during his illness but he was still hot, despite the dark circles of exhaustion under his eyes. Rufus was strong-willed and Reno knew he’d be back in top shape in no time, provided the rain had really cured his Geostigma. He frowned at the possibility of the disease returning and he mentally kicked himself for letting his thoughts go there.

“Here comes Tseng,” Rude said with some relief. The other Turks turned their heads and watched the Wutaian approach at a light jog. He was out of breath when he reached them and after he ducked under the sheet and handed the set of clothes to Rufus, he put his hands on his knees and took a moment to catch his breath.

“It seems we’re all in need of a good rest,” Rufus said. In a rare display of public affection, he reached out and stroked Tseng’s raven hair. The rain had stopped falling and late afternoon sunlight broke through the scattered clouds. Rufus examined the clothing Tseng had brought him and shrugged. A pair of gray jogging pants and a plain t-shirt was much better than nothing. Tseng had to help him a bit when he tried to get the pants on because his skin was still damp and the material didn’t slide over his legs easily. Once that was accomplished, Rufus was able to slip the shirt over his head with relative ease. He felt stronger already and he carefully rose from the wheelchair and took an experimental step forward.

“Shit,” Reno said when the President stumbled. He dropped the sheet and caught him around the waist, wincing when his raw skin was rubbed with the contact. “Don’t push it, boss.”

“I suppose I’ll have to endure the wheelchair for a little while longer,” Rufus murmured as the redhead helped him sit back down. “Considering I’m barefooted, it’s probably for the best.”

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

Rufus had to buy a whole new wardrobe, because when we got back to Healin we burned all of his clothes and all the bedding he’d slept on, yo. He wasn’t too happy about that but since he wasn’t eager to get sick again he didn’t argue much. I found out that Cloud and his gang made it through all right and that made me kind of happy. Rufus kept regular doctors appointments for a while to make sure he was clean of the stigma. It never came back and he was on his feet again and recovering fast after a couple of weeks.

I told Ma all about what happened and she came over to check on us a lot for the first month cause we were all in pretty bad shape when we first got back to Healin. I think Rufus even started getting attached to her, yo. Elena was still fooling around with that doctor of hers and life was finally getting back to normal for us all—at least, as normal as it was before the plague.

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

Reno and Rufus walked together in the crisp winter afternoon. The trees of the forests surrounding Healin were almost bare of leaves now and they’d begun using the fireplaces in the cabin regularly. Reno scuffed the dead leaves on the path with his shoes and glanced sidelong at his boss. Rufus looked great now. He’d regained the weight he’d lost during his illness and the sickly pallor was gone. His ash-blond hair was shiny and healthy looking, feathered over his brow and stirring in the breeze. He wore a turquoise sweater, a white winter jacket and a pair of gray jeans. The semi-casual look was a big turn-on for Reno and the Turk found himself wondering if Rufus’s libido would return soon with his health.

He thought about how many times he’d come close to losing Rufus and an anxious feeling rose in the pit of his stomach. He wanted the blonde, not just for the physical contact but to reaffirm that Rufus was alive and well. He wanted to feel him sliding against him and tensing in his arms, wanted to feel his hot breath against his neck and hear those throaty groans he made when the final ecstasy overcame him.

“Something on your mind, Fox?” Rufus asked without breaking stride. His breath produced puffs of fog in the cold air.

Reno shrugged. He didn’t want to push the man, knowing what a sensitive subject virility was. “You look great,” he said simply.

Rufus stopped and smirked at him. “Why, thank you. There’s more than that though, isn’t there?”

Reno grimaced. He never could fully hide things from Rufus. “That’s the basic gist of it, Sir. For everything you’ve been through you look fan-fucking-tastic. You’ve gotta stop doing stuff like that, you know.”

Rufus frowned. “Like what?”

“Like making me think you’re a dead man. Let’s go over the list, yo.” Reno held his hand up and started counting with his fingers. “First, you nearly had a shootout with your old man. Then, you stayed behind in Junon when the first Weapon attacked. After that, you got blown up in your own office—”

“I didn’t get ‘blown up’,” Rufus corrected with a faint laugh.

“Well I thought you did,” reminded the Turk. “Then you almost suffocated to death in that safe and just when I thought you were gonna be okay, you came down with Geostigma. Next thing I knew you were falling out of a building and when you made it through that freakin’ event, you went into a coma! Now that’s—” He paused and counted the events. “That’s seven lives right there, not including Meteorfall when I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again. You’ve gotta be more careful, yo. Even top cats like you only get so many lives.”

“You think of me as a cat, then?” Rufus said with a wry curve to his lips.

“Why not?” responded the redhead. “You’re always comparing me to a fox and damned if you don’t have more lives than a cat.”

Rufus had a puzzled expression on his handsome face. “I’m really not sure where this is going, Reno.”

Reno huffed in annoyance. “I’m trying to say…look, you’re gonna make me go grey before my time if you don’t stop dying on me.”

The President raised a pale eyebrow. “Reno, I’m quite alive.”

The redhead gave him a smile that was laced with pain and Rufus saw the emotions in his sea-green eyes that he’d tried so hard to hide from him.

~I understand, Fox. You need contact. So do I, but I don’t know that I can…well, I suppose there’s only one way for me to find out, isn’t there?~

Rufus put an arm around Reno’s waist and guided him off the path to a nearby maple tree. He turned the other man around so that his back was against the trunk of it and he pressed up against him. For once, Reno wasn’t pushy or demanding. He stared into Rufus’s eyes and put his hands on his waist as he waited to see what he would do.

The President reached out and slowly pulled the elastic band out of Reno’s bright hair, then combed his fingers through the length, letting it spill over his shoulders and down his back. He admired his Fox for a moment and he felt his groin stir hesitantly in his pants. Beautiful and dangerous…that was how he saw the Turk. He cupped the back of Reno’s head and drew his mouth to his as he slipped his other hand under his jacket and shirt to touch the lithe muscles of his stomach and chest.

That sweet, soft moan that had driven him mad with desire the first time he heard it burst from Reno’s mouth. The clever pink tongue traced his lips and stroked them invitingly and it was then that Rufus Shinra’s libido—which he had worried might be permanently diminished—returned full-force. He pressed his crotch against Reno’s thigh, demonstrating this fact to his subordinate as he toyed with one of his nipples and thrust his tongue into his mouth.

“Back to the cabin?” Reno gasped eagerly when Rufus’s lips traveled to his jaw and then his neck.

“Immediately,” Rufus agreed.

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

Hell, the boss’s sex drive came back with a vengeance after that. He showed it off too. Tseng and I had sore asses for days and Rufus actually fucking bottomed for Rude. I couldn’t believe it, man. If he wasn’t so reserved I think he might have run around the cabin naked, shouting: “Hey look, my dick’s working again!”

He calmed down a little after a few days but I think that little sabbatical from sex actually bumped up his sex drive some once he got it back again. I ain’t complaining, yo. You know me; I loved the hell out of it.

Anyhow, another storm blew in after we recovered from that shit, but this time we didn’t get directly involved with any of it. Rufus said it was best left up to the hero sorts like Cloud and his friends because every time we got involved in some kind of crisis we ended up making it worse. Yup, takes talent.

This time the problem was a secret army that old man Shinra raised UNDER Midgar without Rufus ever even knowing about it. They were called Deepground and they came up and started attacking settlements out of the blue, carting off anyone that didn’t have traces of Geostigma to their headquarters and sacrificing them to raise this thing called Omega.

It turns out if Omega got enough souls to ascend, the world would end or some shit like that. Guess who started this little fracas? Hojo. That’s right…fucking Hojo. The freak somehow possessed the strongest member of Deepground and started taking over, and you know Hojo’s thing for Doomsday.

Rufus kept Reeve in charge of the WRO and he funded the expenses for fighting off Deepground. Cloud and his friends were in the thick of it again but this time it was Vincent Valentine that put the butt-hurt on the apocalypse, yo. Everyone thought he sacrificed himself at the end to stop Omega but he contacted Reeve later and let him know he was still alive. That guy’s just weird, man.

Midgar…shit, I don’t think Midgar’s ever gonna get cleaned up. The last crisis with Omega trashed all the repairs the WRO did in the city but would ya believe people still went back to keep living there? Not even the Turks are gluttons for punishment like that, yo. We stayed in Healin until Junon was fixed up enough to move there and our new Headquarters were built. We were slowly rebuilding the company and the Turks were almost back to full strength. ShinRa started providing power to the world with electricity instead of Mako and Rufus kept working with Reeve on restoring everything that got trashed…including the environment.

My Ma’s cancer came back and spread through her bones, yo. I don’t wanna talk too much about that because it still hurts. Rufus made sure she got the best doctors but all his money and power couldn’t make her better. All we could do was try to keep her comfortable.

I finally got my chance to get down Strife’s pants and that’s a night I’m never gonna forget, yo. I’ve still got the handcuffs framed on my wall. Rufus found out about it and you might remember his rule about me fucking around with anyone outside the Turks without his permission, yo. He didn’t punish me when he found out because my Ma died and believe it or not, the man has a heart. After I had enough time to mourn, it was business as usual and Rufus made sure I got back into my normal routine so I wouldn’t lapse into depression.

We had a few misadventures with Cloud Strife. Rufus got kind of obsessed with the idea of having him after I told him about my night with him and I didn’t find out the real reason he wanted to seduce Cloud into the Turks until I was about ready to punch the man, yo. For the first time I knew the cultured bastard loved me, because he finally came clean with me and admitted he was jealous of Strife. He was trying to recruit him because he didn’t want to lose me. Ha…like I’d ever leave the Turks!

That about brings us up to date, yo. Hope you had as much fun with my memories as I did. They ain’t all happy or great but they’re part of me and some of ‘em keep me going when I think I might break. Maybe I’ll see you around, yo.

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

The End.