Redheaded Stranger

Chapter 7
Interrogation

Reno heard the low sound of voices as the blackness evaporated. He groaned as he woke, feeling the pounding pain of a headache. His eyes cracked open, but he closed them back tightly with a hiss of pain, blocking out the bright lights above him.

"He iz awake." The light disappeared as Odine moved the lamp aside. Reno opened his eyes back up and glared at the scientist.

"You're a dead man," Reno croaked out, then swallowed, trying to relieve the dryness of his throat.

"No need for threats. Zis vill be over soon."

"It's not a threat, it's a fucking promise," Reno snarled, trying to grab for the man, but was held back by the straps holding him down. "Let me loose, fucker!"

"Sorry, but I can't do zat. Not yet," Odine responded, not concerned with Reno's reaction.

"Sir, maybe we should let him go. This doesn't feel right." Reno turned his head to see the man who shot him with the tranquilizer.

"You!" The man squeaked and jumped in fright. Reno would have laughed at the sight if he wasn't strapped down and pissed off.

"Really now, I only vant to examine you. I've already taken some blood." Reno looked down, just realizing he was shirtless. A bandage was on the crook of his arm where the bastard had put a needle in him.

"You took some of my blood, I'm gonna shed yours!"

"Are all ze people from your vorld as violent as you?"

"Son of a bitch!" Reno struggled against his bonds, itching to get his hands around Odine's throat.

"Don't make me have to sedate you." Reno stopped his struggle, but the heat of his anger didn't diminish.

"Why didn't you examine me while I was out. You already took blood, you sick fuck!"

"Vell, part of ze examination requires you to be alert. Also, I vant answers to ze questions you refused to answer before."

"Hell no! I gave you all the information you're going to get, dip shit!" Odine sighed and shook his head. He watched as Odine walked over to a counter that was covered with syringes and different colored bottles. He chose one of the bottles and filled a syringe with the blue liquid it contained.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Reno asked.

"Sir, this is going too far now," the assistant spoke up.

"Shut up! He vill talk."

"The hell I will!"

"You are making me resort to zis." Odine wiped a spot on the upper part of his arm with an alcohol swab as he spoke. "Zis drug iz an invention of mine. If I ask a question and you lie, or refuse to answer," he said, injecting Reno with the drug. "You vill feel extreme pain," he finished, pulling the needle from his arm.

"And you have the balls to call me violent?! I'm not telling you shit!"

"Sir, please stop this!" the assistant begged.

"You may leave until I am done vis him. Go now."

"But, Sir..."

"Go!" The assistant squeaked and left the room in a rush.

"You think you can torture me and get away with it?" Reno sneered at Odine.

"I vill. I have another invention that can take away memory. You von't remember your time vis me."

"Oh, you're so dead!" Reno struggled and Odine watched with interest, examining him like a new found life form.

"Zis man you vork for, Rufus Shinra. Tell me more about him."

"Fuck you!" Reno spat with a cocky grin. The pain started in his head, barely a shimmer at first, but it got much worse in seconds. "I'm not talking, asshole!" He screamed when a sharp pain went through his body. He strained against his bonds, trying in vain to get free.

"Come now. It iz a simple question."

"No!" Another sharp pain made him scream a series of insults at the head scientist.

"Crude man! Just answer ze question."

"I swear, I'm going to kill you." Reno looked at Odine through his haze of pain, grinding his teeth like an angry dog.

"Zis man must be very important for you to endure so much pain for him," Odine said in thought, leaning close to Reno to look in his pain filled eyes.

"You'll never find out," Reno said and spit in Odine's face. The jolt of pain was worth the reaction of utter disgust from the man. Reno laughed through the pain, his mood lifted, if only for a moment.

XXXXX

"Squall, don't stop," Rinoa sighed as her nails scratched down his back. He was making love to her for the first time in almost a week. Cid had been keeping him so damn busy lately, they didn't have much time together and she was usually asleep by the time he made his way to the quarters they shared.

"I'll never stop," he moaned in her ear and she smiled, gyrating her hips harder beneath him. They were both reaching climax as his thrusts increased. Rinoa felt the familiar heat building and moaned his name in worship.

"Yes..yes..yes," she moaned as she came, gripping his ass as he moved harder inside her.

"Rinoa,..I'm gonna...," he started when the pounding on their quarters door interrupted him. "Shit!" he hissed, but his thrusts didn't slow and he came with a groan of satisfaction. Rinoa giggled at the expression of anger on his face, amused at the contrast to his moan of pleasure. He sighed when he pulled out of her, snatching his discarded jeans off the floor with an annoyed curse. Rinoa watched him pull them on with a disappointed sigh of her own.

"This better be good," he muttered, leaving the bedroom. The pounding renewed as he walked into the next room. When he opened the door, he certainly wasn't expecting to see his father standing there with two guards and a fidgety looking man in a lab coat.

XXXXX

"Vat does zis veapon do?" Odine asked, picking up the EMR from the metal table next to the screaming redhead. The pain had gotten worse by the minute and Reno no longer even heard the man's question. All he knew was the pain and the need to be free to kill the son of a bitch responsible. "Did you hear me?" Odine said, grabbing Reno's sweat soaked hair. "Answer my questions, damn you!"

"Eat shit," Reno muttered weakly, then screamed hoarsely with a new jolt of pain. Odine muttered a curse of his own and stepped away from the man, throwing the EMR to the floor. He glanced at the t.v. monitor on the wall and cursed again when he saw the group of SeeD's and the President with his guards in tow coming to his lab. He also saw his traitorous assistant leading them there. President Loire would have him imprisoned for this. He had no choice but to flee. He looked regretfully over at the semiconscious man who was weakly moaning in pain on the table and ran from the room in flight.

Squall pushed the door open, seeing the room empty except for Reno, who was strapped down and in obvious pain. Laguna ordered the guards to search for the missing Odine and joined Squall with the others at Reno's side. The redhead seemed unaware of their presence as he thrashed around in agony.

"Hyne, what did Odine do to him?" Zell asked, looking at the assistant with disgust.

"It's an invention Odine created. He said it was a useful tool for interrogation, but I didn't think it was moral myself.

"Can something be done for his pain?" Laguna asked, looking on with concern.

"Yes, Sir." The assistant went over to the bottles and syringes. "This one will counter the effects," he said, picking up the bottle with red liquid. He quickly prepared a syringe and an alcohol swab. He came back over, but Squall grabbed him before he could touch Reno.

"Are you sure?" The man shuddered under the cold gaze of the SeeD, but forced out a confident yes. Squall gave a short nod and let the man relieve Reno's pain.

"He's thrashing around too much. Someone needs to hold his arm still for me." Squall gripped Reno's upper arm and he started to fight, arching his body against the straps.

"Reno, we're here to help. Calm down."

"Let me," Quistis said softly. Squall moved aside, letting her move closer. "Reno," she said softly to him, running her fingers through his hair. He opened his eyes and smiled slightly through the pain.

"Hey, babe," he said barely above a whisper.

"You need to be still so we can help you, okay?" he stilled, but grimaced with the continuous pain. He saw the assistant with the syringe and narrowed his eyes with suspicion.

"He helped the fucker," he said.

"He wants to help, Reno. Let him."

"Alright," he agreed, closing his eyes against the pain. He felt the cold wipe of the swab and the pinch sting of the needle. The pain slowly ebbed away and he sighed with relief. He tried to sit up, but realized he was still bound. "Could someone please let me the fuck loose? I got a lab rat to hunt down!"