Picking up the Pieces

Some smut and some violence in this chappy.
Enjoy!

Chapter 4: A Step Forward.

That night, Tifa watched Cloud carefully; his sudden change in behaviour confused her. He had been upset earlier when he learned of her relationship with Reeve and had been nothing short of fuming when he found the Turks in Edge. She could see no cause for the small smile he was wearing or the way he seemed to slip into his own thoughts without warning, a dreamy expression gracing his features.
She supposed that she should be happy that he had found something to smile about, but this was so out of character for him that it was a little unsettling.
Not to say that there hadn’t been an improvement in his temperament in the last five months. He didn’t slip into moody silences as often and he had started to string more than one or two words together when he spoke. But something had happened today that seemed to have done more for him than anything she and her friends had tried in half a year.

She shook her head and returned her attention to the task at hand, washing glasses at the bar. Yuffie was standing beside her, drying them as Tifa washed. The other girl was still blabbing about Adrian. Tifa smiled and rolled her eyes, and she wondered if the Turk knew what he was getting himself into.

There weren’t that many people in the bar tonight and it felt like even less with Yuffie and Barret helping to serve the drinks and food, and Reeve making the food in the kitchen. She popped her head around the door of the kitchen to check on him, he was standing at the counter, cutting up some pepper. His tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration and his normally neat hair was a little mussed. She couldn’t help but smile, he just looked so cute. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his shoulder.

“We’ll be closing soon, honey”

He sighed and made a show of wiping his hand across his brow in exhaustion. “Thank the Gods” he turned in her grasp, slipping his arms around her and planting a soft kiss in her parting.

She looked at Marlene and Denzel, who were colouring at the table.

“Why don’t you two go up and get ready for bed?” she said. They both nodded and scampered to the stairs. “And don’t forget to brush your teeth!” she called after them.

~

Barret was watching Cloud closely as well. He was also puzzled by their leader’s behaviour. He looked over at the other man, who had spaced out again. Cloud was leaning against the wall at the far end of the bar, his eyes glazed over and distant. The spacing out in itself wasn’t anything new; Barret figured that that was part of the package when you had been severely mako poisoned on more than one occasion. But what had changed was that instead of the frown he usually wore when he was lost in his thoughts, he actually looked quite content.

Barret chuckled to himself when he realised that he was worrying about Cloud because he was happy. He shouldn’t be uneasy because their leader was finally piecing his life back together. But he resolved to keep an eye on the little blonde. He had a feeling that the good mood that his friend was in was as fragile as glass. Cloud was his friend, had become almost a son to him and he hoped that whatever had made him so happy wouldn’t blow up in his face.

~

The bar emptied slowly after the last orders were filled. Barret drifted upstairs to kiss Marlene goodnight and go to bed himself. Yuffie was staying in the same room as Marlene and Denzel and she regaled them with bedtime stories of her adventures before they went to sleep, and Reeve and Tifa retired to her room.

Cloud sat on the edge of his bed, looking at the card that Reno had given him. It was black plastic with a red ShinRa logo in the corner, Reno’s name and phone number were etched into its surface; he traced the letters with his thumb.
He replayed the day’s earlier events again in his mind, a faint blush creeping into his cheeks.
He had almost forgotten how good it felt to be with another person. The fact was, he hadn’t been intimate with anyone for almost six years. Of course, spending five years in Hojo’s lab had played a major role in that.

He laughed to himself. This whole situation was just so strange. That he would make a connection with Reno of all people. They were so different; Reno was loud and obnoxious, and a constant flirt. Or maybe it had happened because of those differences, the redhead was a breath of fresh air, Reno had reawakened feelings in him that he hadn’t even realised had died.

He had to make a delivery to Junon tomorrow and he would keep an eye out for Reno while he was there. And if he didn’t see him he could always go looking. He placed the card on his bedside table carefully, and began to get undressed.

He fell asleep with a tiny smile pulling at his mouth, and for the first time in six years his sleep was free of nightmares.

~

Rude had just finished debriefing Reno and Adrian. The four Turks sat silently in the room, Rude and Elena digesting the new information.

“So he wasn’t in the Temple when it compressed, and he had to have been moved by someone else.” Elena said, breaking the silence “So the question is, who moved him? And what did they do with him?”

“Who would have reason to be at the Temple other than ShinRa or AVALANCHE?, and why would they want Tseng?” Rude said quietly

They were silent again, mulling over that question. Rude watched Adrian lean forward and look closer at the map on the table.

“Do we know if anyone visits the island? For fishing or hunting?”

“Yeah, people from Fort Condor go on a pilgrimage there every year. We’ve already questioned them and gotten nothing.” Rude replied.

“Of course, we didn’t mention that we happen to work for ShinRa when we were asking, yo. They probably would have thrown us out on our asses otherwise.” Reno added, rolling his eyes. “I don’t get it, all we ever did to them was try to get some stupid bird off their roof”

“Some stupid bird that just happened to be sacred to them” Rude pointed out

“Whatever, yo”

“They do have a huge grudge against ShinRa, so they would have the motivation to kidnap a Turk, but there have been no ransom demands.” Elena said, “Why wait this long? And if not for ransom, why else would they take him?”

And not one of them could think of an answer to those questions.

~

The mood in the Turk’s living area was subdued. They sat around the table playing cards. The room stank of beer and Reno’s cigarettes. Elena scrabbled to think of something to talk about that would take their minds off Tseng.

“So, I’m guessing that AVALANCHE weren’t too happy to see your face, Reno?” she asked. There was a brief silence before Adrian and Reno simultaneously burst out laughing, Adrian nearly spitting his beer all over the table.
Startled, she looked to Rude, he looked just as confused as she was.

“What’s so funny?” she demanded

“Lets just say that me and Ade extended the olive branch to two lucky AVALANCHE members today” Reno said with a wink.

Rude just smiled and shook his head. It took a few moments for Elena to get the hidden meaning behind that statement, and Rude chuckled to himself at her innocence.

“Who was it?” Elena asked eagerly when she caught on

“Well” Reno gestured toward Adrian “Casanova here managed to get Yuffie to agree to go on a date with him”

“Aw, that’s so cute!” Elena chirped, and Adrian blushed “What about you, Reno?”

They started laughing again, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, yo” Reno replied

“Try us” Rude replied, although he had an idea. He knew that there was one particular member of that group that Reno had been lusting after for some time.

“I’m not one to kiss and tell, yo” Reno said, a feigned expression of shock on his face. “But if ‘Lena can guess, then I won’t be putting my reputation as a gentleman at risk”

Elena pouted. “Why doesn’t Rude have to guess too?”

“Because he’ll get it on the first try, yo. He knows me too well”

Elena gave an exaggerated sigh. “Fine. Guy or girl?”

“No clues, ‘Lena” Reno laughed, “You have to guess”

“Tifa?”

“Nope”

“Barret?”

Reno gagged on his beer and Adrian started giggling “Barret?! Gods ‘Lena! He’s, like, twice my age!”

“So, no?”

“No!”

“Vincent?”

Reno looked at her in disbelief “He is, like, three times my age, and creepy as fuck! What kinda person do you think I am, yo?”

“A desperate one?” Adrian supplied, still giggling.

Elena stroked her chin in thought. “I don’t know who else it could be”

Reno blinked at her. “It was Cloud”

“No it wasn’t” she replied.

“Yes it was. I think I know, I was there after all”

“No way, I don’t believe you. And you can’t prove it!” she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Reno made an annoyed sound and slumped in his chair, he glared at Elena.
Adrian leaned forward and patted the redhead’s hand.

“Don’t worry Reno, me n’ Rude believe you. Don’t we Rude?”

Rude just made a sound in the back of his throat that Adrian took to mean: “Yes Adrian old chap, I agree with you completely, one hundred percent”. That sent Adrian into a fit of giggles again, earning him strange looks from his colleagues.

“I think it’s time for you to go to bed, yo” Reno said

“I think it’s time for all of us to go to bed” Rude interjected, looking at the clock.

As they stood up and began clearing away the bottles on the table, Reno turned to Elena.

“How much you bet?” he asked

“About you and Cloud?”

“Yeah, how much?”

“500 gil” she said, smirking.

“Easiest 500 gil I ever made, yo”

“You can’t prove it, I haven’t anything to worry about”

~

Cloud was up early the next morning. He jumped out of bed, and headed for the bathroom to shower. He was looking forward to seeing Reno today, he would invite the redhead out to lunch and, if things went well, hopefully he’d be able to get the other man alone afterwards. He shampooed, conditioned and washed himself as fast as possible; speed was of the essence this morning if he wanted to get to Junon at a reasonable time.
After his shower he dressed quickly, but, as usual, it took almost half an hour to get his hair the way that he wanted it. When he was finally satisfied with the angle of each spike, he went downstairs to grab a quick breakfast.

Tifa and Reeve were at the table; she was sleepily nursing a cup of coffee and Reeve was nibbling some toast.
Tifa looked up when he came in.

“Morning” she said with a yawn. “You’re up early”

“Mornin’ Tif’” he replied as he chopped up some fruit into a bowl, “I’ve got a delivery in Junon today, gotta leave early if I don’t wanna waste the whole day travelling”

She didn’t reply, and he continued preparing his breakfast. When he finished and sat down at the table he realised that both Reeve and Tifa were looking at him strangely.

“What?”

“Were you just humming?” Tifa asked

He thought for a second and realised that he had been humming. The tune to one of the songs out of the play, Loveless. He scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I guess I was.”

He ignored their concerned looks while he ate his food. Why they should be concerned about him humming, of all things, eluded him, but he wasn’t going to let them ruin his good mood. He looked at the clock on the wall, it was half seven, he could be in Junon by eleven or twelve if he made good time.

~

Tifa watched Cloud more or less inhale his breakfast and then jog out of the house. She waited until she heard Fenrir’s engine fading into the distance before she said anything.

“Why is he so eager to get to Junon?”

“He said he needed to leave early” Reeve reasoned. “But, I admit, he was much more… cheerful this morning than I have ever seen him.”

“He’s been like that ever since the Turks left yesterday”

“Maybe he was just glad to see them leave?”

“Maybe…”

~

Adrian and Reno were on morning patrol. Something that, according to Reno, was work that used to be allocated to the lower Turks, before Meteor Fall, when there had been a lot more than four of them.
They strolled the streets of Junon, keeping an eye out for any anti-ShinRa activity or any suspicious individuals. Adrian was enjoying the looks of fear and respect that he received because of his Turk uniform, something he hadn’t experienced even when he was in SOLDIER.
They had been out here all morning and Adrian’s feet were killing him, the dress shoes that came with being a Turk were not designed for walking great distances. Adrian had already noticed that Reno didn’t wear the Turk issue shoes, opting instead for thick black boots, but Adrian didn’t want to spoil the look of his uniform so he had decided to stick with his shiny leather shoes. They just looked too good, even if they were trying to murder his feet.
Much to Adrian’s relief they eventually stopped outside a small café, and he gratefully sat down in one of the chairs outside.

“You want something?” Reno asked, cocking his thumb at the café.

“Nah, I didn’t bring any money with me”

Reno just laughed and went inside. He returned with two cups of coffee for them, and sat down beside Adrian.

“You’re a Turk now, Ade. You don’t need to pay for anything in Junon. And once Rufus gets things up and running again, we can go back to not paying for stuff anywhere.” Reno said, handing him his coffee and reaching out to ruffle Adrian’s hair.

“Hey! Don’t do that!” he cried, batting Reno’s hand away and trying to fix the strands back into place.

Reno just laughed. They drank their coffee in relative silence. Adrian flexed his toes inside of his shoes, trying to work out the cramps. When they had both finished, Reno stood up, pulling a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket.

“Come on, yo. Lets head back, it’s nearly one”

They retraced their steps, heading back toward their base. Adrian noticed the bike first; it was parked across the street from the ShinRa building.

“Isn’t that Clouds bike?” he asked Reno

Reno peered at it. “Yeah, I’d recognise that monstrosity anywhere. Wonder what he’s doin’ here?”

~

Cloud had gotten to Junon in record time, and he had finished delivering his package by half twelve. He didn’t have any trouble finding the current ShinRa headquarters; he did have to sneak into it before, when they had to follow Sephiroth across the ocean to Costa del Sol. He had to admit though, that it was nice to be able to walk in the front door this time, instead of having to climb up an electric pylon.

He entered the lobby of the main building, and went straight to the front desk. The receptionist was a small woman, who currently looked like she was about to have a heart attack. She had obviously recognised him, and assumed he was here to kill them all or some other such nonsense. He hoped that she wouldn’t call security; he really wasn’t in the mood.

“Hi” he said, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible, “I’m looking for Reno, he here?”

“I…I’ll check now, sir” she stammered as she fumbled with the phone, nearly dropping the receiver. After making a few calls she turned back to him.

“I’m s… sorry, sir. But he’s out at the moment” she said, shooting nervous glances at the sword on his back.

He sighed. “Do you know when he’ll be back?”

“He should be back soon” said a familiar voice, directly behind him. He turned to see Rude looming over him. The bald man’s face impassive, Elena standing beside him, a very strange expression on her face.

“Then I’ll just wait for him” he replied simply.

“What do you want to see him about?” Elena asked

“Just about something that happened yesterday” he replied vaguely, deliberately avoiding their eyes.

She looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but she kept them to herself.
They spent the next fifteen minutes in an uncomfortable silence waiting for Reno to show up. Cloud fidgeted absentmindedly with the zipper on the front of his top, Elena was inspecting her nails and Rude stood perfectly still, his face expressionless.
The trio eventually heard two familiar voices approaching the door and Cloud almost let out a sigh of relief.
Reno swaggered over, shooting Elena a smirk before he turned to Cloud.

“What brings you here, babe?”

Cloud blushed at “babe” and he shot nervous glances at the other Turks. He cleared his throat.

“I had a delivery nearby, so I figured I’d come see if you wanted to grab lunch or something?” he said quietly.

“Of course I do, as long as I don’t have to get on that bike of yours, yo.”

Cloud smiled “We’ll walk”

~

Elena’s eyes had nearly popped out of her head when she had seen Cloud in the lobby. Then she and Rude had gotten close enough to hear what he was asking the receptionist and she knew it was pretty likely that she had lost the bet.

But she had still held some hope of victory until she saw the look on Strife’s face when Reno finally came back. His eyes had lit up in an unmistakable way, and she had to admit defeat. Gods she wanted to punch that victorious smirk off of Reno’s face.

~

Reno took Cloud to the café he had gotten coffee in earlier. They grabbed a table in the corner. The other patrons gave them a wide berth, giving them curious looks. Everyone knew who Cloud was and they recognised Reno’s uniform so it was no wonder that people thought it was a little strange that they were sitting together.

Reno talked continuously throughout the meal, mostly about his triumph over Elena in their little bet. He also spoke of what had happened with Tseng, but mentioned nothing of his commander’s relationship with the President or the fact that Rufus was still alive. When Cloud asked who was running ShinRa now, Reno had just replied that Cloud “wouldn’t know them”. Which wasn’t exactly a lie, Reno justified to himself, Rufus had changed so much since Meteor Fall and the loss of his fiancé that it was difficult to associate him with the Rufus ShinRa that AVALANCHE had met and fought all those months ago.
When they had finished their food, Reno casually suggested that they continue their conversation somewhere a little more comfortable. Reno smiled smugly when Cloud’s expression betrayed the fact that he had been waiting for Reno to say something along those lines since he got here.

~

Cloud was a little nervous as Reno led him to an expensive looking hotel, trying to keep an eye out for anyone he knew.
In the lobby, he stood by the elevator and watched as Reno managed to get a room by just flashing his ID at the clerk and was a little surprised that the ShinRa name still held so much power here.
Reno swaggered over to him, dangling the key from his fingers. “The honeymoon suite, yo” he grinned.

Cloud blushed deeply. He reached behind himself, thumbing the button for the elevator and the doors slid open. Reno was on him the second they got inside the elevator. Mouth crashing against his, and demanding entry. Cloud gave in willingly, bathing in the taste of coffee, cigarettes and Reno. By the time they reached their floor Cloud felt like he was on fire. He let himself be dragged down the hall and pushed into their room. Reno divested them both of their clothes with a speed that left the blonde’s head spinning.
He was pushed back onto the bed and Reno climbed on top him, his hands on either side of Cloud’s head. The redhead leaned in to nibble on Cloud’s ear, pulling gently on the piercing there.

A hand was run appreciatively over his chest “You are so fucking hot” Reno purred

Cloud smiled and reached between their bodies to give the other man’s arousal a gentle squeeze, his smile widened when Reno moaned and leaned into his touch. Cloud buried his other hand in Reno’s hair, pulling him down for a kiss and removing the Turk’s hair tie. Red hair fell around him like a curtain, the smell of Reno flooding his senses. He whimpered as the redhead broke the kiss and moved to his neck, biting and sucking, surely leaving a mark, but he didn’t care, he savoured the feeling of being marked, being claimed. Reno then began to work his way down his body, running a wet tongue down the centre of his chest and lingering at the navel. Cloud wiggled in protest, trying to urge Reno lower. The redhead obliged, running his tongue up Cloud’s length, before taking him into his mouth, wringing a low moan from the blonde.

Cloud clenched his teeth and fisted the sheets when Reno took him even deeper and he felt the slick walls of the other man’s throat around him. He writhed and bucked on the bed, steadily nearing completion when Reno suddenly stopped. He let out a frustrated sigh as he felt the redhead moving back up his body, Cloud opened his eyes.

“Fucking tease,” he growled

Reno smirked at him. “I’ve been waiting forever to get you into bed, I think you can wait a few more seconds, yo” the redhead bent over the edge of the bed, rummaging through clothes on the floor, ass in the air, and Cloud enjoyed the view before Reno popped back up again, lube in hand.
Reno positioned himself between Cloud’s legs; he hooked one over the redhead’s shoulder and gasped as a finger entered him slowly.

“It’s been a while since I did this” Cloud said quietly

Reno just smiled at him “I’ll be gentle, baby” he said softly, planting a kiss on the inside of the leg that was draped over his shoulder. Reno carefully added a second finger, moving slowly. Cloud was trying to will himself to relax, it was difficult to clear his mind, but all thought left him when Reno curled his fingers hitting the sweet spot inside of him and he moaned deeply. Gods... he had forgotten how good that felt.

“Reno…” he gasped “now”

The redhead didn’t need to be told twice, he withdrew his fingers and slicked himself with lube. Cloud bit his lip as Reno began to enter him, slowly moving forward until he was inside completely and they were face to face. It hurt, but he knew it wouldn’t for long, so he pulled Reno into a kiss, shifting his hips, silently signalling to the other man that he could start moving.
They moved together slowly, each thrust deep and satisfying and Cloud lifted his hips to meet every one. It felt so good, so right, to have Reno above and inside him, his hands and mouth moving all over his body. He looked into aquamarine eyes that were hazy with lust and he lost himself. Reno began stroking him in time with their thrusts and he bucked and groaned in response, it was too much, his back arched and his mouth opened in a silent scream as he came. Reno followed him over the edge, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, Cloud’s name on his lips.

Reno collapsed on top of him, and Cloud eased his leg down from the other man’s shoulder. They lay like that for a while, tangled in each others limbs and enjoying a lazy kiss, before Reno rolled off him, sighing contentedly.
Cloud cuddled up beside the redhead, slipping an arm across his stomach and pulling him closer.

“Reno?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“You said you’ve been waiting forever to get me into bed?”

“Yeah”

“How long?”

Reno chuckled. “Probably since the first time you kicked my ass, yo”

Cloud looked up at Reno and smiled shyly. Reno raised an eyebrow and smiled back.

“You should smile more often, yo”

“I don’t usually have reason to” he replied quietly

They were quiet for some time then, just enjoying each other’s company. Cloud loved the feeling of Reno’s skin against his, warm and soft, he felt like he could stay like this all day. Of course it was Reno who finally broke the silence.

“You said it had been a while… how long?” he asked

Cloud was silent for a moment, trying to decide if he should tell the truth.

“Yesterday behind the bar was the first time I’ve been with anyone in a long time”

“How long is long? If you don’t mind me asking, yo”

Cloud sighed “Almost six years…”

“What?! How is that even possible? You’re fucking gorgeous!” Reno exclaimed

Cloud blushed at the complement. “If you ever find Tseng you should ask him where five years of my life went”

“Can’t you just tell me?” Reno asked

“Maybe… but not right now. I don’t want to ruin this.”

Reno left it there. They spent the rest of the day in bed, sometimes sleeping and sometimes not. It wasn’t until that evening when they ordered dinner to the room, that Cloud realised that Tifa would probably be wondering where he was.
He retrieved his phone from his pocket and dialled the number for the bar. It only rang once before she picked up and he felt a pang of guilt, she must have been waiting by the phone for him to call.

“Hi Tifa”

“Cloud, where are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Tif’. I’m still in Junon. My bike broke down, it should be fixed by morning.” He lied.

Reno was listening in and had to clap his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Cloud scowled and pushed him, knocking him off the bed and onto the floor. He had to muffle his own laughter at the look of shock and feigned hurt on the redhead’s face.

“Cloud?” he heard Tifa’s voice in his ear, Shit! he hadn’t been listening.

“Yeah?”

“Nothing… I’ll see you tomorrow” she hung up

He tossed the phone into the pile of clothes on the floor as he was tackled to the bed again.

~

Reno woke up the next morning to the sound of his mobile ringing. He sat up and blinked groggily, not remembering where he was for a moment. He looked at the sleeping form beside him and it all came back. He grinned and jumped out of bed, hunting for the ringing annoyance. Eventually he found it, under the armchair in the corner. He flipped it open.

“Yo”

“Reno! where the fuck are you?!” it was Elena, her voice shrill in his ear.

“I’m only five minutes away, ‘Lena. What’s up?”

“It’s Tseng. A ransom call came in! It’s those lying bastards from Fort Condor!”

“I’ll be right there,” he said flipping the phone shut.

He turned to the bed. Cloud was sitting up, fully awake. His spikes had somehow remained perfectly in place, Reno doubted that his own hair had faired so well.

“Work?” he asked

“Yeah, a call came in about Tseng. I have to go, okay?”

Cloud got out of the bed and came over to him, embracing him tightly.

“Of course.” He said against the redhead’s shoulder. “Give me your phone for a second”

“Why?”

Cloud just took it from his hand. “I’m putting my number into it” he replied.

Reno smiled and kissed the blonde on the forehead. He began gathering up the mess that was his clothes, and found his hair tie on the floor beside the bed. He dressed as quickly as possible and left Cloud with a kiss.

~

When he made it back to headquarters Rude was waiting for him at the door. They took the elevator to the roof. Elena and Adrian were already waiting at the helicopter. Elena was twitching irritably and Adrian looked nervous. Reno took his place in the pilot’s seat and they took off for Fort Condor.

“We have to set down a good way away from the actual settlement,” Elena said. “We don’t want them to know that the four of us are coming, and the helicopter isn’t exactly discrete.”

Reno nodded in agreement. “What’s happening?”

“We got a call at eight this morning. A man from Fort Condor saying he has a Turk held captive. Matches Tseng’s description. They want one million gil for him. The rendezvous is in a valley near their town at five o clock. Said valley is surrounded by trees and cliffs, good sniper territory, that’s why we have to go in and clear it out. And then set ourselves up in positions to take these bastards out if anything goes wrong.”

“Why did they wait until now to make the call?” Reno asked

“He said that they hadn’t realised that ShinRa was still in business, at least not until two days ago when they saw this helicopter in the sky”

“When we were going to Edge.” Adrian said

“Exactly. They want Rufus to deliver the money himself, they said he could only bring two other people with him and that they can’t be Turks. He has two SOLDIERs with him.”

“He also had to leave his wheelchair behind. And while he can stand, he can’t for very long.” Rude added, rubbing his temple

Elena continued to explain what they would do after the exchange, and in the event that something went wrong. They readied their weapons. A handgun, sniper rifle and EMR each, and Adrian had brought his shotgun.

Reno set the helicopter down and they headed for Fort Condor.

~

Reno hid in the shadows of the hillside surrounding the rendezvous point. He couldn’t see them but he knew that Rude was across from him, among the trees, that Elena was above them on one of the cliffs and that Adrian was bringing up the rear behind Rufus’s vehicle to make sure he wasn’t being followed.

He tightened his grip on the rifle in his hand and kicked the body beside him. He had stumbled upon the other sniper in his search for an appropriate vantage point. He had not hesitated in snapping the woman’s neck; stupid Fort Condor bitch didn’t know what hit her.

He watched as Rufus exited his car, two SOLDIERS with him. Two people, a man and a woman, stepped forward to accept the ransom; Tseng wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
The male was saying something to Rufus, but Reno was too far away to make out what they were talking about clearly.

Rufus opened the briefcase, showing the man the bills inside, but making no move to hand it over. The man nodded and turned to his companion, she moved back up the path a little out of sight. She returned with Tseng at gunpoint.

Reno cursed softly when he saw his commander. Tseng’s Turk suit was tattered and blood stained, he obviously hadn’t been given any other clothes to wear in his five months here. He had lost weight, his face was badly bruised and bloodied, his hair hung loosely around his shoulders, and he walked with a limp. The woman was poking him harshly in the back with the barrel of her gun, nearly making him fall.

He watched Rufus hand over the suitcase as they shoved Tseng at him. The Wutain stumbled into his lover’s arms. As the man and woman backed away, the pair of SOLDIERs moved forward, putting themselves between the President and the kidnappers.

That was the signal.

Reno cocked his weapon and trained the sight on the man holding the briefcase. He pulled the trigger with great relish, hitting the fucker in the throat. The guy took another step before his body seemed to realise it was dead. Reno watched the gout of blood that spurted from the man’s neck, staining the ground. The other was picked off as well, either by Rude or Elena. Shot right between the eyes, her skull collapsing from the impact. They both lay crumpled on the ground, suitcase of money lying forgotten beside them.
Reno ran down the front of the hill, jacket billowing behind him, he noticed the other Turks also leaving their hiding places. Together they approached their boss and their commander.

Rufus was on his knees, cradling his lover’s head against his chest. Tseng seemed to have passed out. Reno had a much closer view of their commander’s condition from here, the man was emaciated, his face gaunt. He felt anger bubble inside of him, how dare they do this to a Turk, didn’t they know who they were fucking with? To take Tseng from his fiancé and his unborn child for a measly one million gil, it was disgusting.
Rufus looked up at the four of them, his blue eyes full of tears but hard with rage.

“Burn it to the fucking ground” he hissed, “All of it, kill every single one of them”

“Yes, sir” they said in unison.

~

The Turks rampaged through Fort Condor, hunting down every man, woman and child and killing them all. They screamed and begged for their lives, but they would find no sympathy here. Mothers and fathers tried to protect their children but only succeeded in prolonging their lives by seconds. The children were disposed of quickly, the only mercy they allowed themselves as they ploughed through the masses. In a matter of hours three men and one woman had completely wiped out the entire population.

They now stood at the base of the mountain colony. Adrian looked at his companions, they were all splattered with gore and the smell of death was thick in the air. Rude had lost his glasses at some point, it was the first time that Adrian had seen his eyes, deep brown and full of hatred for these people and what they had done. Elena’s expression was solemn; her gun still gripped tightly in one hand and Rude’s hand in the other. Reno was grinning; a maniacal, predatory smile that was all teeth, and his eyes were glassy. His EMR hung loosely from his wrist, caked in blood and clumps of hair; he had obviously decided that it was more satisfying to bludgeon these people with it than to shock them.

Adrian was no innocent. His shotgun was still hot in his hand; his shoulder still sore from the recoils and his ears still rang with pleas and screams. His hands were just as stained with blood as theirs, and he found that he couldn’t find an ounce of pity within himself for these people.

The four of them stood together and watched Fort Condor burn. They inhaled the smell of burning wood and the sickly sweet stench of the corpses as they cooked in the inferno.

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Hope you enjoyed it,
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