Picking up the Pieces

Thanks to shinrasukiyaki for their review, yeah that line made me giggle quite a bit when I wrote it. Just Rufus being a spoiled brat really.

Thanks go to Debzi for her second review and input into the whole Zack’s eye colour thing. Your mention of Cloud’s birthday inspired a lot of this chapter, really got the old cogs turning, so thank you for that! … *cough* can you tell that I’m just making it all up as I go along? *cough*

Thank you Dr. Scientist for being a magnificent Beta, as usual. I love you baby!

A bit of a warning, Cloud is a little OOC in this chapter and will be for a while. This is because the little chocobo-head is actually happy for once, so he can’t really be the emo that we all know and love… at least not until he gets geostigma of course.

Anywho… Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Secrets Revealed.

Cid Highwind stood on the deck of the Shera, which he had lovingly named after his new wife. He adored everything about his new airship, and it was steadily replacing the lost ‘Highwind’ in his heart, he loved how the polished wood of the wheel fitted perfectly in his hands as he steered, how the Shera’s windows gave him a view of the world that was absolutely breathtaking. The very clouds seemed to part for him, giving him a clear view of Cosmo Canyon below, the red mountains stained a deeper shade by the fading August sunlight.

He was jerked from his thoughts by the buzz of his phone vibrating in his pocket. He called over one of his crew to take the wheel while he headed into the hallway for the sake of his privacy. He flipped the phone open and recognised the number immediately as that of the Seventh Heaven.

“Highwind”

“Cid! How are you?” Tifa’s voice chirped over the line, and he smiled.

“I’m fine, Tifa. What can I do ya for?”

“Well, it’s almost Cloud’s birthday, and I’m arranging a surprise party for him at the bar. I’m calling to invite you, but also to ask you a favour.”

“Sounds good. What do ya need?”

“I’ve been able to contact everyone except Nanaki. I was wondering if you could find him and ask him if he could come as well?”

“Sure thing, Tifa. I’m flying over Cosmo Canyon as we speak. Makin’ a quick stop there is no skin off my nose.”

“Thank you, Cid. I’ll see you on Friday at eight then.”

“Yeah, see ya.” He said, hanging up.

He strode back out onto the deck, relieving the temporary pilot of the wheel.

“Change of plan, folks. We’re landing in Cosmo Canyon, prepare to descend!”

~

Reno sat on Cloud’s bed, not impressed by the Spartan conditions his lover was living in. The room was furnished only with a desk, a small, thin bed, and various motorcycle paraphernalia. Gods knew that Cloud made enough money from his delivery service to afford a cushier lifestyle. Reno had a feeling that Cloud didn’t like to treat himself often, probably too plagued by his self-imposed guilt.

He looked at the other man, who was sitting at his desk, filling out a few forms before he could call it a day. Reno shifted impatiently on the bed and checked his watch, it was almost seven and he was feeling bored and more than a little horny.

Determined to relieve himself of both aforementioned problems, he stood up from the bed and walked over to the desk, peering over the blonde’s shoulder and pretending to be interested in what he was writing. He leaned forward until his head was resting on the blonde’s shoulder, wrapping an arm around the other man’s midsection and tracing small concentric circles around Cloud’s belly button with his other hand.

Cloud leaned back into the touch, his pen hanging loosely from his hand. Emboldened by the content sigh that escaped Cloud’s lips, Reno let his hand wander lower, thumbing open the button on the dark jeans and slipping inside. The blonde gasped when Reno’s hand encircled his hardening arousal. Reno smirked against the other man’s neck, biting and sucking his exposed throat while he began to stroke the blonde slowly, barely enough to please. Reno couldn’t help but laugh with self satisfaction at how his teasing was driving the other man crazy, Cloud was basically writhing in the chair.

“Reno…” the blonde whispered

“Yeah, babe?”

But Cloud didn’t finish his sentence, he stood up abruptly from the chair, dislodging the redhead in the process and turning to face Reno. The redhead placed a firm hand on the smaller man’s chest, pushing him back against the desk, his hand snaking into Cloud’s jeans again, pushing them and his underwear off his hips so that they pooled around his ankles. He wrapped his hand around the other man’s erection again, this time exerting a little more pressure. The redhead drank in the sight before him, Cloud’s eyes were firmly shut, his lower lip pulled between his teeth, obviously trying to stop himself from crying out.

He removed his hand from in between his lover’s legs, earning a whimper of disappointment from the blonde. Ignoring Cloud’s pout, Reno turned the other man around and pushed him forward so that he was bent over the front of the desk. Reno reached into his pocket and extracted the tube of lube from inside and generously coated his fingers. Cloud inhaled sharply when he slid one finger inside, moving it in a circle. He used his free hand to unzip the other man’s top, teasing a nipple while he added another finger with his other hand.

~


Cloud was having a difficult time trying to stay quiet, his breathing had become ragged and he was biting down on his lip hard to stop himself from making a sound. He almost lost it when Reno hooked his fingers inside of him, hitting that sensitive ball of nerves. He couldn’t believe that he was doing this with Marlene and Denzel in the next room and Tifa downstairs… his thoughts were interrupted when Reno entered him in one smooth movement and a strangled moan managed to escape his throat.

His hands unconsciously curled into fists, crunching some of the reports on his desks into useless balls between his fingers, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, not when Reno was brushing against his prostate with almost every thrust and the redhead’s lubricated hand expertly working on his arousal, pushing him closer and closer to the edge.

He felt teeth sink into his exposed shoulder, the sudden pain combined with the pleasure was too much and with a low growl he released, coating his stomach and splashing the documents on the desk. Reno followed soon after, cursing under his breath and collapsing on top of the other man.

They stayed like that for a while, catching their breath, before Cloud shrugged the redhead off him gently, wincing a little as Reno slid from him. Cloud stood up slowly and pulled his jeans back up, frowning a little at the paperwork on his desk, most of it ripped or flecked with semen. He sighed; he would have to do it all over again tomorrow. He was just about to open his mouth and ask Reno to help him clean up when there was a Gods awful crash behind him. He spun, reaching for the sword that wasn’t on his back. He sighed in relief when he saw Reno standing, wide-eyed, beside a broken lamp, that he had somehow managed to knock off Cloud’s bedside table.

They both stared at each other for a moment before Reno started laughing and Cloud couldn’t help but join him.

~

Tifa smiled to herself after finishing her call with Cid, she had managed to invite everyone to Cloud’s party without arousing any suspicion from the blonde.
She heard a jarring cackle that could only belong to Reno come from upstairs and winced. No, she hadn’t spoken to everyone yet, there was a certain Turk she still had to invite, and it wasn’t going to be easy to talk to him without Cloud overhearing.

She didn’t even want Reno at the party, but she knew that Cloud would be upset if she didn’t invite his new beau. She wondered what Cid would have to say about Cloud and Reno, she was sure he wasn’t going to congratulate them anyway.

She went into the kitchen and tried to think of a way to get Reno on his own to ask him. The Turk was upstairs in Cloud’s office at the moment; she hoped they were behaving themselves since Denzel and Marlene were playing in the room beside them. He was apparently staying for dinner tonight; maybe an opportunity would arise then? Maybe she could get his number out of Cloud’s phone, or…

She jumped when something crashed upstairs, followed by another cackle and Cloud’s subdued laughter. She rolled her eyes and started up the stairs to find out what they had broken.

She approached the door to Cloud’s room, hoping that she wasn’t about to interrupt anything private. She raised a hand and knocked on the door. She heard shuffling and whispers from the other side of the door before it was opened a few inches, Cloud peering out at her, a guilty smile pulling at his lips. Gods, he looked ten years old again.

“Hi, Tif’”

“I heard a crash. Is everything all right in there?” she asked, trying to keep her tone light.

That annoying laugh echoed in the room behind Cloud again, and her hands twitched at her sides as she wondered what it would be like to wring the redhead’s neck with his own ponytail.

“We broke a lamp…” Cloud said sheepishly. “… I’ll buy a new one tomorrow.”

“Okay, just be careful.” She replied calmly. “Dinner will be ready in half an hour.”

Cloud smiled at her and closed the door slowly, the whispers starting again as soon as the door clicked shut. Tifa sighed and headed downstairs to keep an eye on the roast she had in the oven.

~

Barret pulled up outside the Seventh Heaven in his truck, he smiled as he stepped out of the vehicle and thought about the welcome that awaited him inside. A warm meal and a warm reception from his adopted family.

He opened the door and went inside to the kitchen, and while he was greeted by the sight of the other residents sitting at the table, there was one unexpected face seated comfortably next to Cloud. Barret snorted in disapproval when he saw the pack of cigarettes on the table next to the redhead’s hand.

“You better not be smokin’ dose in here.” He growled.

Reno raised an eyebrow and smirked up at the larger man. “Well hello to you too, yo”

Barret just stared at him and the redhead relented. “Don’t worry big guy, Cloud kicks me out back every time I want one, and it’s fuckin’ freezing out there.”

Barret sat down at the table, glad that Cloud had put his foot down when it came to smoking in their house, though he doubted that they would be able to stop Cid from polluting their air on Friday. He thanked Tifa for the meal and began shovelling the food into his mouth, listening to the banter of the others. Reno kept cracking jokes, and much to Barret’s dismay, the skinny bastard seemed to have charmed his little Marlene. The girl hanging on his every word and giggling at every joke. At least Denzel seemed to be quite shy of the Turk and he already knew how Tifa felt about Reno.

“So, Reno? What are ShinRa up to these days?” Tifa asked casually.

“I can’t tell you that now can I?” Reno chuckled “All very hush hush, top secret kinda stuff, yo. But I can tell you that it doesn’t involve mako, so you can rest that pretty little head of yours.” He said with a wink, which earned him an eye roll from Cloud and a burning glare from Tifa.

Barret sighed internally; this was going to be a long evening.

~

Reno was thoroughly enjoying his day with Cloud and his friends. He had managed to get a day off work, mostly because Tseng was too distracted with the new baby to stop him. It was great to be able to stop hiding their involvement with each other and it had been absolutely hilarious having to sneak sex in Cloud’s room as if they were both teenagers again, and then breaking the lamp by accident. And now the dinner, which was possibly the best roast chicken he had had in his whole life, not that he was going to admit that to Tifa. It was unbelievable how easily he could wind her up. He chuckled to himself; the girl looked just short of punching him in the face.

The meal was drawing to an end when a familiar craving came over him, and he knew that he was going to have to brave the cold outside again, alone. He excused himself from the table, kissing Cloud in the midst of his blonde spikes before letting himself out into the back.

He leaned against the brick wall, in the same spot that Cloud had pinned him against the first time they had fucked, and pulled a smoke from the packet. He could hear the soft sound of the others talking inside the building. Maybe they were talking about him… or maybe he would just have to accept that he wasn’t the centre of the universe, he thought to himself with a chuckle as he went to light his cigarette.
The door opened and Tifa walked outside, a bag of garbage in her hand which she threw, angrily, into the pile in the corner before turning to look at Reno. She stood there and eyed him, a small frown creasing her features. And he was more than a little afraid that she was going to kick his ass for pissing her off all evening.

“Reno, I just thought that I’d let you know that we’re having a surprise birthday party for Cloud on Friday, and that I’m sure it would mean a lot to him if you came.” She said quickly.

Reno was surprised; the invitation was certainly more welcome than the kick to the face he had been expecting.

“Thank you, yo.” He said, sincerity evident in his voice. “I didn’t even know his birthday was coming up. Never mind that it was this Friday. You’ve given me enough time to get him something.”

Her expression softened. “You’re welcome, Reno”

~

Rufus stood at the huge window of his office, the masses of Junon passing below unnoticed. He held his daughter in his arms, running his thumb through her soft baby hair; her tiny form nestled securely against his chest. He watched her chest rise and fall with fascination and a little fear. Some irrational part of him afraid that each exhale might be her last.

He could hear Tseng typing at his desk, working on the mountain of reports that had piled up while he was gone. Rufus was sure that Rude, Elena and even Reno had already done most of them but that Tseng wasn’t satisfied unless he looked them over himself. He carried the baby over to the crib in the corner and lowered her gently into it. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, the dark irises unfocused. He smiled down at her, crushing love welling up in his chest, wondering how something so tiny could hold so much power over him.

He felt arms encircle him from behind, not at all surprised that he hadn’t heard his lover rise from his seat and cross the room, stealth was Tseng’s job after all.

“I have to go out for a while; I got an email from Rude saying that he was contacted by a man who wants to speak with me about an important matter.” Tseng whispered against the other man’s neck, “and apparently he won’t come anywhere near this building under any circumstance… of course if it comes to it, I’m sure that Rude and I can persuade him.”

Rufus sighed and leaned back against Tseng, trying to ignore the twinge of apprehension that shot through him. What harm could Tseng possibly come to here in Junon? And with Rude accompanying him? “What is it about?”

“I’m not sure.” The Wutain said quietly, withdrawing from his lover and making his way to the door, pulling on his Turk jacket as he went.

“Be careful”

Tseng just smiled reassuringly at him before leaving the room. Rufus sighed and sat down in the chair beside Aiko’s crib, not feeling reassured in the least and not liking the idea of starting on the daunting paperwork on his own desk.

~

Yuffie stood in the lobby of the ShinRa building and checked her watch impatiently. She had gotten here early and was going to have to wait another twenty minutes before Adrian finished work for the day. She heard the ping of the elevator doors and allowed herself a glimmer of hope when she saw that the figure inside was wearing a dark Turk suit.

Her hopes sank when she saw the dark hair and graceful gait that she knew belonged to Tseng. She stared at him, willing him to see her so that she could start an argument with him. She knew that it was childish, but at least it would give her something to do while she waited for Adrian.

~
Tseng stepped from the elevator onto the ground floor of the ShinRa building, straightening the lapels of his suit as he headed for the door. He stopped dead in his tracks when he felt eyes burning into the back of his skull. He turned slowly and saw the girl standing at the desk, glaring daggers at him.

“Ms. Kisaragi. Waiting for Mr. Frayne?” he said politely, walking toward her.

“Uragirimono” she hissed.

He smiled down at her, unphazed by the insult. “Dear girl, I assure you that I am no traitor. I had every reason to stand against Wutai in the war.”

“My father told me all about your reasons. That your mother was exiled from Wutai for heresy against the Da Chao, that she was a whore and that she took her bastard child with her.” Yuffie retorted.

Tseng chuckled ruefully and pushed a strand of hair behind his ear. “Yuffie, my mother was no prostitute. But, considering the circumstances, I can see why he would feel the need to smear her reputation.”

“What?” she said irritably.

Tseng sighed. “I doubt that you want to hear what really happened.”

“Spit it out” she said, anger creeping into her voice.

He raised an eyebrow, not impressed by her tone. Especially when speaking to an elder. But he continued anyway, this was something that she needed to hear.

“As I said, my mother was not a prostitute; she was a simple peasant woman, renowned for her beauty across our homeland. Men of all ages and class flocked to her. Godo was no exception. He promised her marriage, wealth and a place beside him on the throne.” Tseng paused and cleared his throat. “She fell for his lies easily. How could she doubt her own leader? A man chosen by the very gods that she worshipped. Things went smoothly enough, until she had the misfortune to fall pregnant by your father… Or should I say our father?”

He looked the young girl in the eye then, rage and confusion swirling in her eyes, eyes that were the mirror of his. Her mouth fell open when realisation began to filter through.

“But…” she stammered.

He cut her off. “When our father found out that my mother was pregnant with his illegitimate child he panicked. He ordered that she be killed before I could be born and bring shame upon the Kisaragi family… Luckily, my mother was warned by a neighbour before they got to her. She fled from Wutai, with only the clothes on her back. Pregnant, afraid and unsure of where to go, she chose the one place that was the opposite of her homeland in every way.”

“Midgar” Yuffie said quietly.

Tseng nodded. “I can never forgive him for what he did and what he tried to do. But Yuffie, I would like if things could be healed between us. I hate to think that my younger sister has been poisoned against me completely. I think that you need to have a talk with our father, about why he felt the need to hide the fact that you have a half brother from you.” He turned and walked away from the dumbstruck girl.

“Oh, and let him know that he became a grandfather yesterday, would you?” he called back as he stepped out into the evening sunlight.
--------------------------------------------

I hope that Crisis Core doesn't reveal anything about Tseng's past and fuck up my story in the process!

For anyone who didn't get it, 'uragirimono' is the Japanese word for traitor.

Ratings and review are much appreciated. ^_^