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Taking Care of Business	By : Turkaholic Category: Final Fantasy VII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1121 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
Chapter 16
If, when I kick the bucket, someone decides I deserve my own, specially-tailored to fit version of Hell, I'm pretty sure this would be it: being told by an angry, bearded blancmange that a psychotic rapist who wants to screw me to death has been kidnapped, and it's my damn job to save him.
Well, actually, I guess my idea of hell would probably be along the lines of eternal sobriety, but this came in a pretty close second.
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, like a dog trying to get rid of a flea. My ears were ringing. Was this just some kind of sick joke? I could hear Heidigger and Tseng having a deep, serious conversation about the situation - tactics, possibilities... y'know, all the stuff I was meant to be thinking about right now, being the complete professional I am. The only problem was that my brain didn't seem to wanna work. You know that white snowy shit that happens to the TV when it's broken? That's pretty much what the inside of my head felt like right now. It was broken, and to be honest I don't think the damn TV repair guy could help with this one.
The one thought that managed to work its way through all the static was this: I hoped whoever had taken the son of a whore was torturing the hell out of him.
Yeah... I've never been much for the whole forgiveness thing.
"...find out who did this? SOLDIER seem to be preoccupied."
"You think I'd trust those fuckers with this? Needs to stay confidential. The public gets hold of this and Shinra loses face."
"I understand. I'll remind my Turks to keep this classified."
I tore my eyes away from the doorway as Tseng turned to look at me. Yaknow, he always amazed me with just how fucking easily he could hide his emotions. I mean come on, Tseng hated the bastard almost as much as I did, but still right now he looked just like a concerned employee.
"Understand, Reno? No rumour spreading... even if you're trying to impress a woman."
I blinked stupidly at the comment. I really didn't feel like playing the part of my old self right now, all I wanted was to go home, get back in bed and sleep til all this shit was over. Thankfully, Scarlet had been listening in and let off one of her stupid, ear splitting cackles, saving me the job of coming up with something witty.
Tseng's eyes flashed at me and then he cleared his throat. I could hear the helicopter landing on the helipad up above. Shinra was obviously arriving, All the executives started parading up to the President's office.
"Tseng. Get this situation in hand. Drop the damn plate if you have to, just find Rufus!"
With that, Heidigger turned and practically ran up the stairs, pushing everyone out of the way to get to the front, like the kiss ass he was.
I and Tseng just stood there for a minute, the only damn people left in the hallway. I felt like I'd suddenly gone deaf.
"Tseng."
"Reno?"
"..." I gulped, trying to think of something not completely stupid and obvious to say. "...this is fucked up."
Ok, not remotely helpful, but I felt like I was going insane here. How was I meant to do this?
What surprised me was Tseng's reaction. He looked around furtively, then leaned back against the wall and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I know."
I've never been one for following orders, which, y'know, is kind of surprising considering my damn career choice; but I was stumped here. If Tseng had any suggestions, I was all ears.
"The fuck do we do?"
He stayed like that for a few minutes, eyes closed, letting himself have one of those rare moments of weakness. Up above I could hear voices and footsteps. Shinra had arrived. The corporate ass-kissing had begun.
Tseng took a deep breath and then stood up straight, shoulders back, his face once again completely devoid of human emotion, like he could just turn the damn thing on and off whenever he wanted. He watched me seriously for a second. The static in my brain cleared. Just a little.
"We do our job, Reno."
He turned on the spot and walked with dignity down the stairs, with a bewildered, pale, and shaky as fuck Reno in tow.
_____
"You heard about Rufus?"
Rude was standing outside Tseng's office, a cup of coffee in his hand.
"You think we've been talking to Heidigger for the last half hour for fucking fun?" I muttered, kicking the trash can on my way past, like it had just insulted my Mom or something.
... if I had a Mom.
Let's get this straight: my head is fucked up. So fucked up that if I went for therapy, my therapist would need a damn therapist by the time we were done. Not that anybody would bother to psychoanalyse a Turk, but still... the point is that my brain has worked out its own defence mechanisms, and this was one of them: frustration, fear... fuck anything that I couldn't handle ended up turning into anger. At least if I couldn't solve my problems, I could feel better by kicking the flying shit out of something.
"If you damage company property, Reno, you will pay for it out of your wages." Tseng said emotionlessly.
I glared at the back of his stupid, over-brushed, way too shiny fucking hair, and wished it was on fire.
Rude looked me up and down and nodded. "You feelin' better?"
"Fan-fucking-tastic." I snapped. Rude grunted.
"Shame. I wanted your porn."
Tseng cleared his throat, as usual when me and Rude were being assholes. He turned, his hand on the door handle, and stared both of us down. Not that I needed it right now.
"All missions are cancelled. Our only concern is with the kidnapping. Rude, ring security and get them to find out how the kidnappers managed to reach Rufus' office without a keycard. Reno," Tseng looked at me carefully for just a fraction of a second - nowhere near long enough for the meaning to penetrate Rude's thick skull. I just glared back angrily. I couldn't deal with Tseng's mixed as fuck signals right now. "...we need to discuss how you got that head wound."
He held the door open for me. I considered - for a brief second - turning around and walking the hell out. I could find a crappy little bar, get out my face and kick the shit out of any son of a bitch who looked at me. Sure, I'd have a hangover and probably a few broken ribs tomorrow, but a few hours of being so pissed I couldn't remember my own damn name, let alone my shitty situation, seemed like bliss right now.
But Tseng's eyes still had some kind of power, even on self-destructive, angry-at-everything Reno. I couldn't just walk away. Tseng was as thrown by this crap as me. I couldn't just abandon the son of a bitch.
I walked past him, still glaring as I threw myself down into the chair opposite his desk. He closed the door and walked slowly round me, staring at me like I'd just grown an extra couple of heads.
"What?!" I snapped. Apparently I was also feeling suicidal today.
"Your anger is not going to help the situation." He snapped back icily. I sank back in my chair.
"What d'you expect, Tseng? Should I be fucking jumping for joy? If Shinra expects me to look for his precious little piece of shit, he can fuck himself. I hope the bastard dies."
I'd never mouthed off like this at Tseng in my whole damn life. Sure I'd cracked a few times, but flatly refusing to do a mission? If I had been anyone else, he probably would have shot me where I sat.
"No you don't." Tseng said quietly, restrainedly, walking away from me towards the filing cabinet. I gritted my teeth.
"Yeah I do. You have any goddamn idea-"
"No you don't!" Tseng shouted, turning around and slamming his hand down forcefully on the edge of the desk. I shut my mouth in shock at the look of rage on his face. I'd never seen it before. Tseng had gotten angry plenty of times - mostly at me - but he'd never shouted. He'd always been cold and angry. I'd always thought that was terrifying as hell, but this? This was a new level of fear, and it completely shut me up, like he'd just superglued my lips together.
He clenched his jaw, I think trying to control his anger. There was a fucking awful silence as he stood staring at me, those normally lidded and way too calm eyes wide and almost completely insane. For a second I wondered if the guy had finally snapped, but then he passed a hand slowly over his face and brushed his hair back into place. His eyes were lidded again, but he was still staring at me intensely. The next time he spoke he sounded calmer.
"Reno, you know precisely what will happen to you, if you refuse this assignment." He leaned further forward and stared at me even more intently, if that was even possible. "You know what I will be expected to do. "
I gulped. there was emotion in his eyes again, and I could practically see the damn scenario playing out in my head. Tseng lowered his head and his shoulders sank a little. "Rufus Shinra may not deserve to be rescued, but President Shinra loves him. He will not look the other way if you refuse to find his son. Would you really force me to shoot you, just so that he dies, too?"
There was a look of pain on Tseng's face now, and I suddenly understood why he was trying to be so calm; so professional about all this shit. The idea hit me like a brick to the face.
Turks are only kept around as long as they're useful. We're like pets: it's all good so long as we can fetch the paper and slippers and chase the damn cats away; but as soon as we start dragging our asses across the living room floor and taking a crap on the master's bed, it's pretty much all over for us. I let the glare fall away as I stared into Tseng's eyes. The scenario in my head was really not something I wanted to come true.
I put a hand up to my aching head and closed my eyes.
"Can we just go back to bed and fuck? We can pretend this shit never happened."
Yeah, I'd just broken the taboo, but then, screaming at me wasn't exactly professional either. I heard Tseng sink into his leather chair with a creak and lean backwards. "By all means. As long as you're the one who tells Heidigger."
"...maybe not then."
I peered an eye open a little. Tseng was sitting back, calm again, a weak smile at the edges of his lips. The only thing that gave away everything wasn't what it seemed was how damn white he looked.
"So... we look for the scumbag?"
He nodded gravely. "Yes. Unless you'd rather me, you and Rude take an early... 'retirement'."
I shuffled uncomfortably and tried to act professional. I still felt angry, fucked in the head, and bewildered, but possible impending death beats screwed up coping mechanisms. I blew out a long breath and pulled out a cigarette. On a normal day, even thinking about lighting up in Tseng's office would put you on a charge, but today was one of those rare occasions he didn't object. The guy knew me well enough by now.
It goes like this: Reno + stress = nicotine, caffeine, booze, and violence against inanimate objects.
"Where the hell do we start?"
Tseng leaned forwards, placing his hands on the desk. "Yuro Miaki."
I blinked stupidly. "'I'm a what?"
Even as stressed out as he was, Tseng still couldn't resist smirking at my complete dumbassedness. "The Wutaian, Reno."
"Oh."
I nearly jumped out of my damn skin when the phone started ringing. I'd nearly forgotten we were in Tseng's office, he'd been so out of work mode a few seconds ago.
He stretched out a hand and picked up the receiver of the sleek, old-fashioned phone, frowning in concentration. I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs as he listened to whoever was on the other end. After a moment his eyes snapped up to my face, eyes narrowed seriously. My heart leapt in my chest, like someone had just charged a couple of hundred volts through it. Whoever was on the other end of that phoneline was talking about me, and something told me it wasn't that I'd just won a trip to Costa Del Sol.
"I see." Said Tseng gravely, still watching me with that penetrating stare. "You'd better get down to the Security office and establish what happened. " With that he put the phone carefully back down, sitting back slowly.
"...what?" I blurted, my throat suddenly dry. Tseng interlaced his long fingers and surveyed me carefully over the top of them.
"...Show me your ID card."
...that was not what I had been expecting. I shook my head, trying to clear out my ears. "Huh?"
"Your ID card, Reno. Show it to me."
It aint unusual for me to be confused as fuck. 90% of the time I don't know what the hell's going on, drunk or sober; but what the hell my ID card had to do with that phonecall was about as clear as a brick wall. Tseng was the boss, though. I sighed and searched my pockets for the scratched up piece of plastic, Tseng's eyes still boring into me like a pair of drills.
It wasn't there.
I frowned in confusion and started checking the jacket again, as though it was gonna magically appear there if I hoped hard enough. Tseng waved his hand as a signal for me to stop.
"Don't bother." He said, that grave tone in his voice again. I gulped. I was in deep, deep crap. "At 2am this morning, Floor 70 was accessed by a Shinra ID card. Your ID card."
I felt like Tseng had just made me swallow a fucking anvil.
"Now," He growled dangerously, leaning forwards across the desk, "you are going to tell me what the hell happened in that bar last night."

Guys! To anyone who has had the absolute patience of a saint with me on this fic - thank you. It will be continued, but for one thing I needed a break - I really get into my characters, and having spent oh... about 5 years writing inside the mind of Reno, I desperately needed a break (before I killed anyone or became an alcoholic o_0). I'm in my final year of uni now, which means that I have craploads of work to do (I'm writing a novel for my dissertation, gods help me), and my head is also full of The Master and the Doctor from Doctor Who (which I'm currently working on); however I will be returning to finish this post-degree, and post-Doctor Who fanfic. I've loved the Turks since my early teens, and at the ripe old age of 27, those screwed up, foul-mouthed hitmen still have a very deep and special place in my dark and twisty heart.
Much, much love to everyone. Reno and Tseng will be back soon
- 15
- 16
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Taking Care of Business