Thanks for the memories

“Thanks for the Memories”
A Reno fanfiction
Chapter 9: “Copycats”
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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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Me and Rude did what we could to cheer Tseng up. He seemed to feel a little better when they declared an end to the war with Wutai. Sephiroth went down on record as a hero for his part in that, yo. We had a little celebration that night, more for Tseng than anything else. I invited him and Rude to my apartment and ordered Wutaian takeout from one of the best restaurants on the plate. I even set up the living room with a blanket on the floor and pillows around it for us to sit on. I laid out the food on plates on top of it, too. The idea was to make it kind of like a traditional Wutaian dinner but I didn’t have one of those low tables so I had to wing it.

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

“Yo, what’s this?” Reno asked as Tseng handed a gift bag to both him and Rude as soon as he walked through the door.

“Open it,” Tseng insisted.

The redhead shrugged at his partner and they both pulled their bags open and peered inside. “That’s a big apple,” Rude said as he lifted his out and studied the fruit. Reno likewise stared at his with interest.

“They’re Banora apples,” explained the black-haired Turk. “I rescued some before the airstrike and I wanted to share them with you both. They’re affectionately referred to as ‘dumbapples’, because they grow out of season. They’re quite good and they keep for a long time.”

Reno didn’t know if he felt more touched or sorry. He smiled at Tseng and replaced his apple in the bag. “Hey, thanks man. I might have mine for dessert. I hope you’re hungry, cause I set us up with an assload of takeout.” He stepped aside so that Tseng could see the dinner he had spread out on the floor. “I know it ain’t exactly authentic, but I threw it together at the last minute, yo.”

Tseng examined the pseudo cultural layout on the floor and the familiar Wutaian dishes spread out over it. He smiled, feeling a throb of affection for the redhead. Reno looked a bit embarrassed but the thought mattered much more than the accuracy of the execution. Tseng reached out and stroked his hair. “This was very thoughtful of you, Reno. My thanks.”

Reno shrugged bashfully and Tseng was reminded of how young he still was. He kept forgetting that the redhead was nineteen. Reno’s hard life had toughened him up more than other people his age and though he looked his age, he rarely acted it. The Wutaian felt further endeared to him even as he felt frustration. He had romantic feelings for the redhead but he wouldn’t act on them until Reno was twenty years of age. A soft kiss or an embrace was fine, but he had spiritual beliefs that forbade carnal knowledge of anyone that hadn’t transitioned to full adulthood, which according to his beliefs was twenty, rather than eighteen as the laws of man stated.

~I can wait. In less than a year, his path to adulthood will be complete. I only hope we all survive that long.~

“Let’s eat,” suggested Rude eagerly when his stomach growled.

“Yes, it wouldn’t do for it to grow cold,” Tseng agreed.

“I don’t think the rice wine I bought is as good as the stuff you keep,” Reno apologized, “but I didn’t know where to go to find a good selection, yo.”

Tseng looked at the brand label. “The wine is fine, Reno. You could have done much worse, believe me.”

The three of them walked to the center of the living room and settled down on the pillows laid out around the spread. Reno and Rude set their gift bags aside and the redhead passed plates around. They each selected food from the various dishes and Tseng chuckled softly when Reno struggled with his chopsticks. Rude was having an easier time of it because he was more accustomed to chopsticks. He wasn’t holding them entirely accurately but he wasn’t having difficulty eating with them.

“I hate to ruin the theme,” groaned the redhead as his eating utensils crossed for the third time and he dropped the dumpling he was trying to hold, “but I may have to stick with a fork or something, yo.”

Tseng took pity on him and scooted over beside him. “Here, let me show you,” he said as he took Reno’s eating hand in his and positioned the utensils properly. “You should catch on easily, with your dexterity. You see? All you have to do is part them a little when you go to grasp a piece of food. Use them like a spoon when you want rice, like this.” He guided Reno’s hand to the fried rice and helped him scoop some onto the chopsticks, then guided the portion to his lips. The redhead smiled at him as he got the food into his mouth and chewed.

“Mmm, good stuff,” Reno said after he swallowed. “So let’s see…I just spread ‘em a little and pick up the grub…” he tried again carefully and this time, he was able to get a portion of sesame chicken to his lips.

“I knew you would catch on quickly,” Tseng complimented with a smile. He returned his attention to his own plate and started to eat.

Rude was even quieter than usual but both of his companions were used to that. To him, dinner was for eating, not talking. He finished before the other two and started on a second glass of wine. They were all too stuffed for any dessert by the time they were finished eating. Tseng tried to help clean up but Reno and Rude both insisted that he relax, so he watched the news instead and sipped his wine. After rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwashing machine, Reno and Rude joined Tseng on the couch.

The footage being shown was of the destroyed ruin of Banora. The reporter announced that there were conspiracy rumors of a government cover-up. Reno glanced at Tseng and saw him go pale. The redhead quickly snatched the remote out of the Wutaian’s slack hand and changed the channel to a science fiction movie. “You don’t need to be watching that shit, man.”

Tseng lowered his eyes and sighed. “There was no other choice. The carnage when we arrived was complete and ShinRa needs to avoid having this situation leak into public knowledge. People might panic…” He seemed to be speaking to himself as much as his companions and the two partners looked at each other across the way and came to a silent decision.

“Let me refill that for you,” Rude said as he took Tseng’s nearly empty glass.

“How about a drinking game, yo?” Reno suggested.

Tseng looked from one to the other and frowned slightly. “I really don’t think—” He began, but Reno interrupted him.

“Come on, man. You’ve gotta get your mind off of that shit. It’s real easy; all we do is pick something to drink to every time it comes up. Hmmm, let’s see what else is on the tube.” Reno flipped through the channels until he found a b-grade horror film and he grinned. “Perfect. Okay, what are flicks like this famous for, yo?”

“Plot holes, breasts, gratuitous violence and characters that put themselves in risky situations that most people would avoid when being chased by a killer.” Tseng answered immediately.

“That’s about right,” Reno laughed. “Okay, so how about we take a drink every time someone in this flick does something stupid? Only, we have to say a key word every time and the last one to say it has to take two drinks instead of one, yo. What’s a good word for stupid moves?”

“Reno,” Rude suggested with a grin as he returned with Tseng’s newly filled glass.

“Screw you, man,” the redhead shot back with fabricated anger.

“Feel free to,” Rude answered with a shrug. Obviously the wine he’d drunk so far was making him a bit more sociable and less inhibited.

“Oh, you think I won’t?” Reno grinned.

“Ahem,” Tseng interrupted, the sex talk making him entertain distracting thoughts. “If we can return to the debate of key words…what about ‘Deathwish’? It seems appropriate for the actions the characters make in these kind of movies.”

Reno and Rude both nodded. “Sounds good,” Rude approved. “I hope the wine holds up, though.”

“I’ve got another bottle in the liquor cabinet,” Reno shrugged. “There’s whiskey and gin in there too but we probably shouldn’t mix liquors. If we run out we can break open one of the bottles of regular wine I’ve got, yo.”

Tseng wasn’t particularly interested in playing the game but his subordinates had taken such pains to ease his troubled thoughts, he felt that he owed them his cooperation. The game began and not five minutes went past before a bleached blonde woman with questionably “authentic” large breasts managed to catch her shirt on a hanging nail in a barn and tear it open. She was in the process of “trying to hide” from the stalking psychopath and she stood there fussing with her torn shirt when she should have been moving her ass.

“Deathwish!” Reno and Rude cried in conjunction. Tseng was too exasperated with the character’s stupidity to remember to say the key word in time and he muttered it a second after his companions.

“Gotta be faster than that, yo,” Reno chuckled as he and Rude toasted over Tseng’s lap before taking a drink. “You get two of ‘em, man.”

Tseng sighed and took two hefty swallows of his wine while the blonde woman on the TV got cut in half with…a butcher knife? He nearly spewed his drink. “Oh, please,” he grumbled, “Unless the killer is a member of SOLDIER, that isn’t possible to do with a kitchen knife.”

“B-movie,” Reno reminded him with a wink. “I watched one the other night where some dude got stabbed in the throat with a toothbrush, of all things.”

“You enjoy these films?” Tseng asked with a little smirk.

“They’re good for a laugh, yo. You know the writers are either on something or pulling stuff outta their ass to come up with such corny shit.” Reno looked at the TV and added, “Deathwish!”

Tseng automatically echoed him but Rude was a little slow this time, so he was the one who had to take the extra drink. The next drinking scene came when a guy dropped a fork down the drain and he stuck his hand in to reach for it. All three of the Turks called out the keyword as soon as he put his hand in the drain and sure enough, Mr. Psycho snuck up behind the victim and turned on the garbage disposal.

By the time the movie was finished, they’d gone through both bottles of rice wine and a bottle of regular white wine. Reno got a case of the hiccups halfway through the film, which handicapped his ability to say the key word fast enough. Due to this and his slighter build, he was pretty toasted by the time they were finished. Ironically his hiccups went away when the credits stopped rolling.

“Figures,” the redhead slurred as he leaned against Rude.

“Maybe you shud eat shome bread,” Tseng suggested in a less-than-articulate voice.

“Maybe you should, too,” Rude said when he noticed the Wutaian was slurring as badly as Reno.

“Kay,” Reno agreed with a nod. “I…I’ll go get shome.” He tried to stand up and ended up plopping right back down on the couch like a rag doll. “That’sh funny…m’legs ain’t workin’.”

“Allow….allow me…” Tseng mumbled and he started to try and get up.

“How about you both relax and let me get the bread?” Rude said, his voice quivering slightly with silent laughter. “You’ll end up falling on your faces, otherwise.”

They peered blearily up at him. “Yo, why’r you…uh…what’sh the word, man?” Reno squinted and snapped his fingers clumsily. “yeah…shober! How’d you shtay shober, part…partner?”

“I’m buzzin’, I’m just not slammed like you two. I weigh more, I ate more and you two fell behind in the game, baby.” His use of the word “baby” in reference to Reno proved that he wasn’t entirely sober either. “I’ll go get the bread. Just don’t try to get up, man.” He went into the kitchen and found the breadbox. He selected two slices and hurried back into the living room, only to find Reno and Tseng passed out. Reno’s head was on Tseng’s shoulder and the black-haired Turk’s cheek was resting against the crown of Reno’s head.

Rude couldn’t resist. He pulled out his cellphone and snapped a picture of the scene for future posterity, then crossed the room and squatted in front of the two inebriated men. “Hey, wake up and eat your bread,” he insisted, shaking Reno’s shoulder and then Tseng’s. They both mumbled and groaned, blinking at him with eyes that couldn’t quite focus.

“Here,” he said as he pressed a slice of bread into each of their hands. “Try to eat this before you pass out again.”

Tseng ate his slice gamely but Reno nibbled at his like a squirrel. Rude glanced down at his watch to check the time and when he looked up again, Reno was steadily falling to the left, still nibbling his bread absently. He hit the cushions before Rude could reach out and support him and his tourmaline eyes drifted shut. His hand fell away from his mouth and the partially-eaten slice of bread fell from his slack fingers to the floor. Tseng finished his and reclined against the back of the couch, his legs sprawling out carelessly.

“Time for bed,” Rude said with a shake of his head. He picked Reno up and carried him like a sack of potatoes over one shoulder, heading for the bedroom. He pulled the covers down and gently eased his partner onto the mattress, then returned to the living room to collect Tseng.

“Sorry boss,” Rude grunted as he picked up the Turk leader and carried him the same way. “I know it’s not dignified but you need to be in bed.” Tseng didn’t protest—not that he could in his condition. Rude brought him into the bedroom and laid him down on the other side of the bed, leaving enough room for himself to squeeze in between them. He took their shoes off and then removed his own. Setting the shoes neatly side-by-side at the foot of the bed, he took his shades off next and put them on the nightstand before turning the lamps off and climbing in to stretch out between his drunken companions.

Both men instinctively turned over when they felt his body heat and the next thing he knew, Rude had both his partner and the head of his department cuddling him on either side. “Nice,” the bald man said with a grin. Reno’s lips softly brushed his jaw and he shivered as he got an erection. “A little too nice,” he sighed. He allowed his hand to settle on his partner’s rump and he closed his eyes.

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“Ooohh, my head,” moaned Reno as soon as he woke up. He felt Rude’s hard body shift against him and the bald man’s big hand began to rub his scalp.

“Wine hangovers are the worst,” Tseng muttered in agreement when Reno’s complaint woke him up. He lifted his head for a second, then gave up the effort and let it drop down on Rude’s other shoulder again. Rude rubbed his head too and he murmured his thanks.

Thankful that he only suffered from a faint, dull throb in his temples, Rude lay there for a while and rubbed his companion’s heads until they both drifted off to sleep again. Carefully, he disengaged from them and got out of bed. He went into the bathroom and searched through Reno’s medicine cabinet until he found some aspirin. Then he went into the kitchen and poked around for something they could eat or drink when they woke up that would help. Reno only kept bottled water, milk and soda in his fridge and he didn’t have any teabags anywhere. He had eggs and bananas though, and Rude was pretty sure he had a blender. He could make a homemade protein drink for his hungover companions.

He’d just about finished blending the mixture of raw eggs, bananas, milk and honey when Reno stumbled into the kitchen, clutching his head like it would fall off if he let go of it. Tseng walked at a more reserved pace behind him, wearing a pair of dark shades. His black hair was free of its ponytail—probably to relieve the pulling it must have caused—and it hung down to his shoulders in a shiny mass.

“Yo, what’s with all the noise?” Reno groaned.

“Sorry to wake you,” Rude apologized as he finished pureeing the mixture. “I was just making a hangover shake for you guys to drink.”

“Yeah? What’s in it?” Reno frowned at the creamy mixture in the blender.

Rude shrugged. “Some milk, bananas, a little honey and a couple of raw eggs.”

He realized his mistake as soon as he finished describing the ingredients. Reno’s pale complexion took on a green undertone and his lips twisted. “Raw…eggs?” he choked. He slapped a hand over his mouth and did an about-face, nearly running Tseng over as he raced for the bathroom.

The Wutaian watched him go and sighed. “Poor Reno. I think I’ll try your shake, Rude.” He seated himself at the breakfast bar and rubbed his temples.

Within moments, there was the sound of the door slamming shut, followed by the muffled sound of retching. Rude and Tseng both winced and the bald man got out a glass and filled it with the mixture. He set it down in front of his superior and grabbed the bottle of aspirin off the counter, shaking out two tablets and handing them to Tseng.

“Thank you,” Tseng said politely before tossing the pills into his mouth and taking a few swallows of the shake. He pulled the drink down and examined it with a surprised expression. “It’s actually quite good. Maybe when Reno finishes getting the urge to be sick out of his system he can try to drink some.”

“I shouldn’t have mentioned the eggs,” Rude sighed.

Tseng finished his shake and Reno emerged from down the hallway, looking drained and pale as he joined them again. “Sorry about that, yo.” He sat down on the stool beside Tseng and the Turk leader could smell a whiff of mint on his breath, indicating that he’d hastily brushed his teeth after being sick.

“Reno, why don’t you try some of Rude’s shake?” Encouraged Tseng. “It tastes pretty good and I’m already beginning to feel better. Of course, the aspirin helps, too.”

Reno grimaced at the blender, where Rude hovered and waited to pour him a glass. “I dunno, man. It might just come right back up.”

Rude poured some into a glass and brought it to him. “Just try sipping on it and see how it goes,” he suggested. “Here, take a couple of aspirin, too.”

Reno gave him a sickly grin. “Never thought I’d see the day when you’d be babysitting both of us, yo.”

Rude shrugged. “We could be called to the job any minute. You can’t work if you’re running for a toilet every five minutes.”

“Good point,” Reno sighed. He picked up his glass and held out his other hand for the aspirin. Rude gave the tablets to him and he put them in his mouth and rinsed them down with the shake, his grimace fading into a look of surprise similar to what Tseng wore when he first tasted the drink. “Hey, that actually isn’t bad at all,” Reno complimented. “You should try bartending sometime, partner.”

“I don’t even want to hear about alcohol right now,” Tseng sighed.

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

We spent the rest of the day hanging out and recovering from our drinking binge. We took turns having a shower and I let Tseng borrow a t-shirt and a pair of jogging pants while we washed his and Rude’s suits, yo. Rude was too big to fit into my clothes so he had to sit around in a bathrobe until the clothes were finished. Mmm…Rude in a bathrobe. If I still weren’t feeling like hammered dogshit I probably would have tried to lure him into the bedroom for a quickie while Tseng had his shower. We kissed and cuddled a little, though.

I thought we might actually get a day off, which would have been fine by me. Tseng cooked us a pot of chicken and vegetable soup for dinner and he and Rude made me eat even though the thought of food churned my stomach. It was light enough that it went down okay, though. Just as we were cleaning up, we heard sirens from the streets below. Then we heard fucking gunfire, yo. We all ran to the big window in the living room and looked down to see what was going on.

It looked like an army of Soldiers were wreaking havoc and in the middle of it was a guy I recognized by his outfit and that red sword of his. It was Genesis. Yo, at first I thought the Soldiers in the streets were fighting him but then I saw ShinRa troops fighting against them. They weren’t our Soldiers…they were Genesis’s. Tseng’s phone rang and he answered it. It was Lazard and Headquarters was under attack. Sephiroth and Zack Fair were fighting off the attackers alone. We were given orders to help clear out the bad guys in Sector eight.

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

As soon as Tseng hung up the phone, Reno paled and remembered something very, very important. “Ma!”

“Reno, you and Rude go and get your mother. You can take her to the sector one police station—she should be safe there until this is over with.” Tseng instructed as he put away his phone. “I’ll go to Sector eight now and meet up with Cissnei. As soon as you’ve escorted Mrs. Flynn to the police station, meet us in the square.”

Reno nodded. “Thanks, boss,” he said with relief.

“Of course,” Tseng said coolly, all business despite his compassionate decision to allow the redhead to see to his mother first.

“Let’s go,” Reno said to Rude. The big man nodded and Tseng followed them out the door and to the elevator. While they waited for the elevator to arrive, Reno pulled out his cellphone and speed-dialed his mom’s number. “Hey Ma, Rude and I are coming to get you. Yeah, I know there’s some fighting going on…that’s why we’re on our way. We’ll take you to the Sector one police station until everything’s under control. No, I won’t be able to stay there with you…I’ve got an assignment to do and I can’t put it off. I know, I know…don’t worry Ma. I’ll be fine. Just keep the house locked up and stay away from the windows until we get there, okay? We’re getting into the elevator right now. Love you.” He put the phone away and stepped into the elevator car with his companions.

“We’ll get her to safety,” Rude assured the fidgeting redhead as he stared up at the blinking numbers and cursed at how slow they were going down.

As soon as they reached the ground floor and the doors opened, Reno was off and running, with Rude struggling to keep up. Tseng hurried to the parking garage for his car while his subordinates ran through the lobby to the front door.

“Unlock it so we can get out!” Reno shouted at the security guard.

“You wanna go out there in that mess?” the man asked with surprise. “It’s safer to stay inside!”

“We can handle it,” Rude insisted. “There’s a lady we need to get to safety, man.”

With a look that said he thought they were both insane, the security guard unlocked the door and opened it for them. “Good luck,” he said as they ran out. He shut the door securely after they were gone and locked it again.

“Shit, I knew I should have bought that car last week,” Reno yelled when they looked up and down the street. They sure as hell weren’t going to find a cab in this mess. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a late model Tornado across the street. He grabbed Rude by the tie and practically dragged him. “Come on, man. We’ll just borrow a set of wheels.”

“Look out,” Rude shouted. Reno instinctively ducked and the bald man slammed his fist into the face of an attacking Soldier. Reno recovered from his dodge and swept the aggressor’s feet out from under him with a low roundhouse kick. He landed on his back and Rude drew his gun and shot him in the head.

“Kinda clumsy for a Soldier,” Reno observed. He squatted down and pulled the dead man’s helmet off, curious to see if the staring eyes were Mako enhanced or not. When he saw the face he looked up at Rude with supreme confusion. “Yo, that’s Genesis!”

Rude looked around at the chaos further down the street. “It can’t be Genesis. He’s First Class, man. He wouldn’t have gone down that easy. Something’s really wrong about all this.”

Reno shook his head. “We’ll figure out what the hell’s going on later after we drop Ma off. Get in the car.”

“You gonna hotwire it?” Rude asked as he opened the passenger seat door and slid in.

Reno got on in the other side and nodded. “Yeah, piece of cake. I’ll bring it back when we finish with all this shit. Hopefully the owner won’t miss it. Hey…you didn’t see any ShinRa logos on it anywhere, did you?”

Rude grinned, remembering the story of how Reno got recruited for having the balls to steal a company helicopter. “Nah, I think it’s cool.”

Reno popped the panel out under the wheel and fooled with the wires until they sparked and the engine started. He took off without hesitation, burning rubber and incidentally running over a couple of enemy Soldier/Genesis/whatever the hell they were. Rude hastily put his seatbelt on and braced himself as his partner gunned the engine and drove like he was in a drag race. Mrs. Flynn’s house was only a few blocks from Reno’s apartment but the woman wasn’t in top shape anymore and trying to escort her by foot would have been too hard on her, despite having two Turks for protection.

Reno pulled up in the driveway of his mother’s house and he and Rude got out and hurried to the front door. The redhead pulled out his key ring, which had a copy of his mother’s house keys on it. He unlocked the door and hollered for his mother as he ran in.

“I’m here,” Lena said as she met him halfway to the living room.

Reno hugged her tightly for a moment. “Come on Ma, we’ve got a car waiting outside. Did you pack a few things just in case?”

“Yes, the bag is near the front door,” she answered.

Rude looked down from where he was standing and spotted the medium sized carry bag. He picked it up and nodded respectfully at Lena. “Ma’am,” he said as he held the door open for her. Reno locked up the house and walked her to the car with one arm around her shoulders. Rude followed a few paces behind, keeping an eye out for any invading spooks. He didn’t know if the “Soldiers” in Genesis’s army were men, monsters or a little of both. He waited for Mrs. Flynn to get into the front passenger seat before he climbed into the back.

“Whose car is this?” Lena asked.

“Uh, it’s a rental,” fibbed the redhead, trying not to wince and give himself away. “We’re just borrowing it for the day. Don’t worry, it’s insured.”

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

After dropping his mother safely off at the police station, Reno and Rude headed for Sector eight. They parked the car near the square and got out, spotting Tseng and Cissnei easily. The two were already fighting off more copies. Tseng dispatched his opponents just as Reno and Rude drew close. Before they could make it to the Wutaian’s side, Reno heard the sound of booted footsteps running toward them from behind.

“Shit, that chick’s in trouble!” cried a male voice. Reno turned to see an athletically built guy with jet black hair that was feathered and spiked, Mako-bright eyes that were something between a blue and violet color and fair toned skin. He was wielding a long, two-handed sword and his attention was totally focused on the embattled Cissnei. Reno threw out his EMR to halt the young man’s advance—perhaps foolishly, since he could tell he was a Soldier operative. The black-haired warrior stopped and stared at him, while Rude circled around behind him.

“Hey, what gives?” Asked the Soldier.

“Not so fast, Mr. Chivalry,” Reno said evenly, “Sector eight is Turk territory. We’re handling things here.” The guy was good-looking and Reno guessed him to be around his age.

The fighter stared at him incredulously, then looked at Rude. Tseng approached and closed the circle. “I don’t have time for this shit!” barked the Soldier. He looked at the Wutaian with frustration. “Tseng, say something to these guys, will ya? That girl—”

“The girl is fine,” Tseng interrupted, gesturing behind the Soldier where Cissnei was fighting.

The black-haired fighter turned around to look and when he saw that she’d already dispatched her two opponents, he relaxed. “Oh.”

To Reno and Rude, Tseng questioned; “What is it like in the other sectors?”

“We’ve got monsters crawling all over Midgar, boss,” Reno answered. “Or human experiments…whatever the hell they are. We took a few out and they all looked just like our missing boy Genesis, yo.”

“Sephiroth said they were copies,” explained the Soldier. “We’re trying to find the real one and stop him.”

“So SOLDIER is having problems too,” Rude commented.

“Where is Sephiroth, Zack?” questioned Tseng.

The fighter shrugged. “Last I spoke to him he was around here somewhere. We split up. Has the President gotten somewhere safe?”

“Yes, he was flown out when this first began,” Tseng replied.

Reno and Rude glanced at each other, surprised that Tseng was sharing this much information with a non-Turk. The Wutaian looked at them next. “Reno, Rude…take care of it.”

“You got it,” Reno said.

“Understood,” Rude answered. The two of them headed through the archway leading out of the square.

“Yo Rude,” Reno said as they climbed the stairs leading up to the next level of the sector.

“Yeah?”

Reno paused and scratched the back of his head. “What exactly are we ‘taking care of’?”

Rude stopped too and he frowned. “I thought you knew. You said ‘got it’.”

“I thought I did too man, but I just realized he might not have just been talking about cleaning up the nasties all over town. Do ya think he could have meant he wants us to look for Genesis? Or maybe we’re supposed to find Sephiroth?”

Rude looked back the way they came from uncertainly. “It won’t look good if we go back and ask for clarification.”

“Yeah, we’ll look like a couple of morons…and in front of that hot Soldier, too.” Reno sighed.

“You thought he was hot?” Rude asked.

Reno shrugged. “Well yeah. It ain’t like I’m gonna yank my pants off and run back to jump on his dick or anything, though. Yo, you’ve got a boogedy comin’ up behind you, man.” Reno suddenly launched himself in the air and clicked activated his EMR. Rude turned around and shoved his would-be attacker away from him, clearing room for his partner to land and smack the Genesis copy with his weapon. The voltage from the rod stunned the creature and it fell backwards down the stairs.

“How about we just assume Tseng wants us to clean up the mess and we’ll just keep an eye out for Genesis and Sephiroth while we’re at it, yo?” Reno suggested as he pulled a pack of clove cigarettes out of his jacket and lit one up. He’d deactivated the charge on his weapon and was leaning casually against the stair railing, as if nothing had happened.

Rude’s eyebrows lifted. “Sounds good, but when did you start smoking those?”

Reno looked at the cigarette and then looked up at Rude. “When I was about sixteen, man. You’ve just never seen me light up before, I guess. It takes me weeks to get through one pack, yo. Hey, you ain’t gonna lecture me now, are ya?”

Rude sighed. “Wouldn’t do any good if I did. At least it’s not tobacco but it’s still not good for your lungs.”

“I only smoke one a day, if I even do that,” Reno smirked. “Promise.”

He almost dropped his cigarette out of sheer terror when a blur of black and silver dropped down right in front of him. Reno stared up into Sephiroth’s emerald, serpentine eyes and he staggered.

“Fuckin’ hell,” he gasped, as he blinked. “Where’d you come from?”

“The roof,” Sephiroth pointed up and both Turks followed his gesture with their eyes to the four-story building looming over the stairwell.

~He jumped down from way up there? Shit!~

“We’re just about to head that way,” Reno pointed to the top of the stairs.

“That area is already cleared,” Sephiroth said as he started walking down the stairs with an animal grace. His incredibly long mane of silver hair swayed with his motions. “I suggest you move on to sector seven, if you’re searching for more targets.”

The two Turks watched him go and they shrugged at each other.

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

We had a few good scuffles after that but with the ShinRa army, SOLDIER and the Turks on the job, the city was cleaned out before long. We never caught Genesis though. We heard rumors that Angeal showed up near the Sector five Mako reactor but when the army got there they didn’t find a damned thing, yo. The President stayed away somewhere secret for his protection for a while longer. I called up Rufus and told him everything that had happened. Tseng apparently told him most of it already so that part of the conversation was short. I took Ma back home and stayed overnight to have breakfast with her in the morning.

After a couple of days things seemed to die down and I decided it was past time for me to kick things up a notch with Rude. I invited him over on the weekend for a pizza and beer night. We rented some movies and sat around like a pair of bums, enjoying some male bonding.

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

-To be continued