Picking up the Pieces

Sorry for taking so long to update! I was distracted by the Death Note and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles fics that I’ve started (which I will probably post eventually, if anyone is interested)

Huge thanks go to my beta, Dr. Scientist. Without whom I wouldn’t have the confidence to post my work!
Thanks again for your continued support Debzi; I hope that you enjoy this chapter.


Chapter 9: Extortion

Tseng entered the dingy bar in lower Junon and tried to spot Rude amongst the crowd. He waded through the mass of people, each with seemingly worse hygiene than the last. It was when he was sandwiched between two particularly pungent patrons and he was seriously beginning to consider using his gun to forge a path through the masses, that he finally saw his second in command at a table in the back. A young male of about seventeen sat across from Rude, Tseng could only assume that this was the informant he had been called out to meet. He shouldered his way through the rest of the crowd and made his way to the back of the bar.

Rude looked up as he approached and nodded in greeting, the kid just stared blankly at him, the glow in his dull eyes identifying him as a former ShinRa employee. Tseng noted that said glow was not bright enough for him to have been in SOLDIER, but maybe a MP. He knew from experience that former MP’s held some of the worst grudges against the company, and as he sat down he mentally steeled himself against the probable vitriol.

“I know that I asked for the leader of the Turks… but I didn’t think they’d actually send you.” The kid said slowly and deliberately, there was something wrong with his eyes and Tseng wondered briefly if the boy was high.

“What is it that you want?” Tseng said, making a show of looking at his watch. It was eleven p.m.; he should be at home coaxing Rufus into bed, not sitting in this shit-hole.

“I was sent here by someone who wants compensation for the mess that ShinRa made of his life.”

Tseng sighed in irritation, he had heard too many ‘ShinRa ruined my life… now give me money’ sob-stories in his time working for the company, and that had been before Meteor Fall. It was foolish of him to think that this child had anything worthwhile to say. “So do a lot of people, boy. We aren’t in the business of handing out charity. Now, I think that you should…”

“He knows that Rufus is still alive.” The boy spoke up, cutting Tseng off.

Neither Turk showed their reaction, but inwardly Tseng reeled. There was no way that anyone could know; they had taken every precaution… hadn’t they?

Tseng cleared his throat, and when he spoke his tone was condescending, as if explaining something simple to a small child. “I don’t know what you are talking about; ShinRa is currently under my management.”

A strange smile pulled at the kid’s mouth and those dead eyes bore into Tseng’s. “He told me that you might say something like that, he knows that Rufus is still alive and of your connection with him, Mrs ShinRa” Tseng’s eyebrow twitched. “It would be a pity if the people found out that the man who caused all of their misery is still alive… I think they would probably resort to seeking their own justice, don’t you?” The kid took a gun out from under his jacket and laid it on the table in front of him, the threat clear. The kid’s smile was steadily approaching manic.

Tseng sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Why did these people have to make everything so difficult?

“Elena?” he called softly. The blonde Turk materialised from the crowd to their left and before the kid could blink the cold metal of a gun was pressed to his temple, Elena relieved him of his weapon easily. To think that this scrap of a boy actually thought that they would come without back-up, it was almost insulting. All of the smug indignation fell off the boy’s face and was replaced by fear and anger.

Tseng rose from his seat, and while trying to hide his amusement he turned to his subordinates.

“Take him in. I want you to find out everything he knows.” He said, straightening his jacket. “Oh, and call Reno. I’m sure he wouldn’t want to miss the chance to interrogate this brat.”

~

Adrian lay on his back staring at the ceiling in the hotel bed he shared with Yuffie. The ninja cuddled up against him, his body still tired and tingling in the aftermath of their coupling. He sighed and blew a strand of hair out of his face as he replayed the night’s events in his mind’s eye.

He had rushed down to the lobby of the ShinRa building, glad to be finished work for the day and excited about seeing Yuffie again. He had spotted her straight away, her cut off shorts and tank top standing out amongst the boring attire of the ShinRa staff; he knew immediately that something was wrong, she looked deflated somehow. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes downcast.
She had told him over dinner, what Tseng had said to her. The hurt and anger evident in her eyes, but whether it was directed at her father or his commander he had no idea. He had tried to ask her questions… what was she going to say to her father? Was she going to say anything?...
But she had cut him off, saying that she would answer anything that he had to say later.

Yuffie shifted against him, muttering something intelligible before drifting back to sleep.

When they had gotten back to the hotel room she had literally pounced on him. Forcing him back onto the bed and tearing at his uniform fiercely. He had tried to reason with her at first, saying that she was upset and that maybe they should just lay in bed together. But then her hand had delved into his underwear and the protests died on his lips… he was only human after all.
There was only one way to describe what had happened, and that was that she had ravished him, left him delirious and gasping for air. Questions had been the furthest thing from his mind.

The girl beside him had fallen asleep straight afterward. And it was only now, as his mind cleared, that he realised that she had effectively dodged answering any questions he may have had.

He resigned himself to wait until morning when he should be able to get a straight answer out of her… as long as she didn’t try any more devious ways to distract him. Adrian pulled her closer as his eyes slipped shut and he let sleep take him.

~

Tseng closed the door of the make-shift apartment/office that he and his family were staying in at the moment. He winced a little; the scar that Sephiroth had left on his body was throbbing painfully. It was as if the Masamune left behind some kind of physical memory in the flesh that it touched. He wondered if Cloud had the same problem, being the only other living human that had survived the kiss of that sword. He headed for the bedroom, intent on getting an early night.

He stopped in the doorway, a smile spreading across his face at the sight before him. Rufus was passed out in the armchair in the corner, some of his hair had fallen into his eyes and he was snoring softly, his snores were matched by the baby in his arms.
Tseng carefully lifted the baby and carried her to her crib. Then he turned his attention to his betrothed, he shook the other man gently. Rufus’s eyes opened slowly and he muttered something before trying to go back to sleep. Tseng knew from experience how difficult it was to wake his lover once he had fallen asleep, he chuckled and hooked an arm under Rufus and lifted him to his feet. Rufus groaned in protest.

“Come on, it will take but a second to get into bed.” Tseng whispered quietly, already unfastening layer upon layer of the pristine white suit that Rufus favoured. When he had divested them both of their clothes and gotten Rufus securely under the blankets, he pulled the other man close and closed his eyes.

It felt good to be here with his family, with the man that he loved and to have done the first real work since he had gotten away from Fort Condor. He fell asleep with a small smile on his face.

~

Yuffie waited until she was sure that Adrian was asleep before she opened her eyes slowly. She slid carefully from the bed and began to pull her clothes on.
She had learned from Adrian that the Turks were living in the ShinRa building, in order to keep a low profile. So her plan was to make her way there, find Tseng and ask for him to arrange a flight for her to get back to Wutai. She needed to speak with her father immediately, and if what her brother had said was true then he should be more than willing to help out.
She frowned in the darkness at that thought, how could she have a brother? All this time she hadn’t known that her only sibling was working for the opposing side, and if her father had really tried to kill him before he was even born, like a coward… maybe she shouldn’t have been fighting for Wutai all these years.

She wrote a small note to Adrian explaining her absence and left it on his bedside table. Yuffie smiled down at his sleeping form and brushed the hair away from his face. She planted a soft kiss on his brow, marvelling that he was such a heavy sleeper considering his profession.
She crept from the room, she felt bad about leaving Adrian like this but there was no way she was waiting any longer to get back to Wutai.

~

Rude walked in relative silence down the basement corridor in the ShinRa building, he pushed the captured boy in front of him, keeping a gun pressed firmly into the prisoner’s back.
The boy in question was nowhere near as quiet; he was alternating between screaming threats at Rude and pleading for his life. Rude’s face remained expressionless but he could feel himself becoming more irritated by the minute; he hoped that Elena would hurry up and find out if this guy was ex-ShinRa, and if he was, what position he had held within the company.
They stopped outside a thick metal door, which Rude opened with a key card; he then shoved the prisoner into the room roughly, making him stumble and almost fall.
The room was a cell, one that had been used in the past to hold traitors to the company, before they were disposed of. Rude set about tying the boy to the bed, facedown. While he was occupied, Elena returned from her errand, she had a strange expression on her face.

“I got the results from his fingerprints. Here’s his personnel file” she said, handing the folder to Rude.

The bald man flipped the file open and leafed through the pages, his eyes widened behind his glasses as they fell on the name of their captive.

~

Reno slid off Fenrir and took in their surroundings. Cloud had brought him to a cliff in the wastelands that looked over Edge and the ruins of Midgar. The redhead did a double take when he noticed a familiar sword wedged deeply into the ground at the edge of the cliff.
Cloud walked past him and approached the sword, one gloved hand rising to caress the metal lovingly. Neither of them said anything, minutes passed, and Reno was almost twitching; the silence was that unbearable. Luckily, before he had a chance to put his foot in his mouth, Cloud spoke up.

“This is where he died” the blonde whispered.

You didn’t need to be a brain surgeon to figure out who Cloud was speaking of, Reno thought to himself glumly. He just had no idea why he was here, why Cloud was telling him this or what he was supposed to say. What did you say to someone in this situation? Saying “Sorry that your friend is dead”, “That sucks” or “Life goes on” didn’t really seem appropriate. In fact, they both seemed like good ways to guarantee that he would be sleeping alone tonight.
So, for the first time in his life, Reno decided that silence might be the best way to go. He approached the other man from behind, wrapping his arms around him and pulled Cloud flush to his chest. The other man tensed up, as if ready to run, but then he leaned back into Reno’s touch and relaxed a little.
The silence that followed was relatively comfortable, and Reno wondered why Cloud was the only person who didn’t make him feel like he needed to constantly run his mouth. Then again, Cloud was also the only person he had ever been with for more than a week… panic fluttered in his chest and he pushed that thought away.
He pulled the other man closer and rested his head on top of the blonde’s, inhaling the scent of him and trying to ignore the uncertainty he was feeling.

~

“Elena, are you sure this is the correct file?” Rude asked his lover, disbelief in his voice.

“Definitely.”

“Call Reno”

~

Cloud pulled away from Reno gently and sat down on the edge of the cliff, his legs dangling in over the edge. The redhead sat down beside him and was moving to pull him closer when Reno’s phone rang.

“Shit” the redhead cursed under his breath as he rifled through his pockets for the offending item.

The little screen was too bright in the darkness and he had to squint to see the number it displayed, it was Elena.

“Yo, ‘Lena. What’s up?”

“Reno, we have a guy in the interrogation room. We could use your expertise.”

“Can’t this wait, yo? I was plannin’ on staying in Edge tonight.”

“He says he knows that Rufus is alive” she said, and Reno reflexively looked at Cloud, hoping that the other man hadn’t overheard that particular sentence. Judging from the look on the blonde’s face he had at least heard Rufus’s name. Shit.

“I don’t see why you need me there, yo” Reno replied, avoiding the intense blue gaze boring into him.

“Believe me, when you find out who he is, you’ll be rushing here to speak to him yourself.”

“Well? Stop pissin’ around, ‘Lena! who is it?”

“Caleb Palmer, son of the former head of the space program.” She said; the smugness clear in her voice.

“Fuck…” he said with a low whistle.

“I know. See you soon.” She said before hanging up.

Reno stared at the phone dumbly in his hand for a few moments before looking up at Cloud. The blonde did not look happy.

“Did she just say Rufus?” he asked, his tone quiet and deadly, Reno knew that it wasn’t really a question.

Reno cleared his throat, what was the best way to handle this? If he lied and Cloud found out from someone else, he’d have a lot more to worry about than spending tonight alone, like spending every night alone, in the fucking hospital… if he just told him the truth maybe he could convince him that Rufus had changed…

“Maybe…”

“And did she say that he is still alive?”

Reno’s silence was answer enough.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Cloud hissed.

“Because, he’s my boss and it’s kind of my job to make sure that nobody tries to kill him!” Reno cried.

“Reno, it’s because of him that the world is in such a fucking mess!”

“No it’s not!” Reno protested. “His father was responsible for all that bullshit, Rufus hasn’t done shit and he’s not planning to! He wants to make up for his father’s mistakes.”

“Why should I believe you?” Cloud spat back.

Reno winced, that hurt a lot more than he’d ever admit out loud. “Look, Cloud. He wants to change, he wants to make the world right again.” Cloud opened his mouth to say something but Reno continued. “He has a kid now; he wants what’s best for her. Do you really wanna’ make an orphan of her, yo?”

Cloud blinked at the mention of the ShinRa heir, Cloud had a soft spot for kids and Reno knew it. If he had to exploit the blonde’s weaknesses to stop him from storming the ShinRa building and decapitating Rufus on sight then that’s what he would do… even if it did make him feel like shit.
Just as expected, all of the fight went out of Cloud the second he thought of adding another orphan to the steadily increasing number.

Cloud sighed and ran a hand through his hair “As long as he doesn’t pull anything I won’t go near him, Reno, and I won’t tell the others that he’s alive… but I want to know everything that he’s up to. I need to be prepared.”

Reno mulled over that for a second, Rufus wasn’t actually doing anything devious at the moment, there wasn’t really any harm in letting Cloud know what was going on, was there? Then a voice screamed in his head, this is your job, the only thing that is supposed to matter to you, would you really risk it all for him?! You were nothing before you put that Turk suit on and you will be nothing without it! And then what? Will you become a fucking delivery boy too?!

Cloud interrupted Reno’s train of thought. “Reno, I can’t trust him… but… I want to trust you”

Reno felt his heart flutter, and realised how utterly pathetic it was that that was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to him. He knew that he had lost.

“Yeah sure, no problem, yo.” He muttered before pulling the other man in for a kiss, the tension in the air melting away. Tseng would have his balls if he found out, he felt the urge to puke and to laugh out loud simultaneously when he realised that he didn’t really give a shit.

“I have to go to work now, I’m sorry, babe.” He said as they parted.

Cloud blushed, flashing one of his rare smiles and said, “I’ll come with you, find somewhere for us to stay the night and then you can come over when you’re done”

Reno grinned broadly, feeling a lot better “Sounds good to me, yo!”

~

Tseng was pulled from sleep by the sound of his phone ringing; groggily he reached out to his bedside table for it, knocking the digital clock to the floor. It read 01:12; he had only been asleep for a little more than an hour.
Finally his hand landed on the ringing annoyance and he flipped it open.

“Hello?” he said, trying to sound as awake as possible.

“Tseng? I’m downstairs, could you, like, come down here for a second?” he recognised the voice at the other end of the line as Yuffie’s, and inwardly he sighed. He hadn’t reckoned on having to play the role of the ‘reliable older sibling’ so soon.

“I’ll be down in ten minutes, Yuffie” he said and hung up.

Tseng rolled out of bed, shaking it a little; Rufus mumbled something in his sleep but didn’t wake up. Thankfully, Aiko seemed to have inherited Rufus’s ability to sleep through anything.
In the bathroom he splashed his face with water and did his best to neaten his hair before getting dressed quickly. He kissed Rufus and the baby softly before he left.

He stifled a yawn as he stepped out from the elevator onto the ground floor. He spotted Yuffie sitting on one of the chairs near the reception desk; he made his way over to her, nodding slightly when she gave a small wave.

“What is it that you need?” he asked, trying not to sound irritable.

“I need to get back to Wutai by morning and you’re the only person I know who can get me there in time…” she trailed off, her expression uncertain.

Tseng thought that over for a moment, it was true that he could fly her there by morning without much effort and more importantly it would probably go a long way toward trying to establish some kind of normal relationship with his sibling.

“I have to make a call first” he said taking out his phone. “When you’re ready we’ll take the other helicopter.” He replied as he dialled, smiling a little at the look of relief on her face.

~

Now it was Rufus’s turn to be woken up by the sound of a ringing phone (although it took much longer for him to be roused from slumber than his lover.)
By the time he finally found and answered his phone he could hear that the baby had woken up, at least she wasn’t crying, he thought gratefully.

“What?” Rufus snapped into the phone.

“Did I wake you up, Love?” Tseng said; the mirth evident in his voice.

“Tseng? Where are you? It’s after one in the morning!” Rufus pouted despite the fact that the other man couldn’t see it.

“I’m sorry, I have an errand I need to attend to; I should be home before lunch time tomorrow.”

Rufus huffed irritably under his breath, “Do you have to? Can’t it wait until morning?”

Tseng chuckled softly on the other end of the line, “No Dear, it really has to be taken care of now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Rufus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Fine. See you then. Love you.”

“You too. Goodnight.” Tseng said and then hung up.

Aiko let out a small cry and Rufus sighed in resignation, picking her up and heading into the small kitchen to heat up a bottle for her.

~

Yuffie watched Tseng talk on the phone, she couldn’t hear what the other person was saying but she recognised it as a man’s voice. Her eyes widened when she heard the terms of endearment he used to address the man he was talking to. She could only guess that this man was the other parent of her new niece or nephew.

When he hung up she decided to chance her arm. “Who was that?” she asked innocently.

He gave her a strange look before replying. “My fiancée.”

“Is she another Turk?” she asked, a smile creeping onto her face.

Tseng frowned at the word ‘she’ and cleared his throat. “No, he is not another Turk and his profession is classified.”

She grinned broadly up at him. “I see… So when do I get to see the baby? Is it a boy or a girl?”

He was really beginning to look uncomfortable now. “A girl, her name is Aiko. I’m sure that some kind of meeting could be arranged…” He paused and pushed a few strands of hair behind his ear. “Now we really should start our journey if you want to be home by morning.” He said curtly before spinning on his heels and headed for a door, obviously expecting her to follow.

He led her to a hanger in the back of the building. There was one lone helicopter and a small plane; she guessed that this was all that was left of the ShinRa air force after the attacks by the WEAPONS and Meteor Fall.

~

The flight from Edge to Junon wasn’t a long one, and it wasn’t long after he dropped Cloud off that Reno was setting his bird down on the heli-pad on the roof of the ShinRa building.
He whistled tunelessly to himself as he got into the elevator and thumbed the button for the basement floor. He lit up a cigarette and slipped his EMR from his sleeve, a small smile pulling at his mouth. While it was true that he would have preferred to stay in Edge tonight, there was no denying that forcibly extracting information from people was one of his favourite parts of his job.

And more importantly, it would take his mind off the fact that he was placing the security of his position within the company in the hands of a man that he had only been seeing for a few weeks. A man who he was developing feelings for that he had never felt before… that he hadn’t even entirely believed existed. In every aspect of the situation he felt like a fish out of water.

The door pinged and opened. Reno shook his head to clear his thoughts and stepped out into the corridor. He spotted Elena and headed toward her, his mind now totally focused on the task at hand.

~

The only furniture in the interrogation room was a steel chair, an old bed and a rickety table. Reno sat on the table, a cigarette glowing between the redhead’s lips, Elena stood beside him, and Rude leaned against the wall near the door, watching silently. Caleb was tied securely to the chair.

Reno inhaled smoke deep into his lungs, holding it there for a moment while he tried to get into character. It was pretty simple; he would act like he wanted to kill the little fuck in the chair (which wouldn’t take much acting at all) and Elena would act like she wanted to get him out alive and well, with all his fingers still attached. A little good cop/bad cop routine, it was an oldie but still a goodie.

He slid off the table slowly and stalked towards the snivelling excuse for humanity that was staring at him fearfully. He leaned down so that he was almost nose to nose with the boy and exhaled a thick plume of smoke into the bastards face, Caleb blinked deliberately as the smoke stung his eyes. “Who sent you?” he whispered menacingly. “Your fat bastard Daddy?” Caleb swallowed thickly and shook his head.

“I don’t believe you, yo.” Reno said, smiling a little. The boy just shook his head again.

Reno gave his best ‘you drove me to this’ sigh and lowered the glowing tip of his cigarette to the bare flesh of the other man’s neck, pressing and twisting it into the skin. The boy yelped and tried to move away, which was, of course, impossible because of his restraints.

“Reno! What do you think you’re doing?!” Elena rushed forward, playing her part perfectly.

He shrugged at her and made his way back to the table. She turned to the bound man, false concern filling her brown eyes. “I’m sorry. Reno can get a little rough sometimes.” She smiled apologetically. “If you just tell us who sent you then we’ll let you go.”

The boy’s eyes shifted nervously from Elena’s face to Reno’s, the redhead made sure to flash him a smile that let the guy know exactly how far he was willing to go to get some answers.

“I can’t tell you! I won’t tell you!” the boy hissed.

Elena turned to Reno and she nodded, “He’s all yours.” She moved to the back of the room and stood next to Rude, all of the false kindness leaving her face in favour of the hatred and disgust that she truly felt.

Reno grinned, flicking the switch on his EMR. It crackled to life as he advanced on the boy bound to the chair. Caleb had begun to weep.
There was a familiar sizzling sound as it connected with bare skin and a smell that always reminded Reno of bad pork.
The screaming started and Reno’s grin widened, and only one thought filled his mind,

Fuck, I love my job.

~


A/N.
Well I hope you all enjoyed that! And I apologise again for taking so long to update.

I just got my special edition Crisis Core bundle: snazzy shiny silver PSP with FF7 art on it, a little buster sword accessory and limited edition Crisis Core in Japanese!
So I’ve been playing like crazy the last few days (even though I only have, like, ten words of Japanese in my vocabulary I’m doing surprisingly well at understanding what is going on!)

The game is making me totally love Zack even more! Tseng too ^_^ and little, shy, happy, MP Cloud before everything went to hell.

Either it will become another distraction or an inspiration… let’s hope for the latter, ne?