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Who Watches the Watchmen	By : AngelicPhantom Category: Final Fantasy Anime > Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children Views: 918 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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It wasn't the steady beeping of machines that woke Reno from the black faint he was in, nor was it the pain that gnawed at every muscle in his lean body. What jerked Reno out of unconsciousness was the undeniable feel of eyes pinning him where he lay. His vivid blue-green eyes immediately flew wide open with panic, and he would have bolted for the door if he felt like he could even move properly.

Tseng had been sitting at Reno's bedside for almost 2 hours before his hawk-like gaze noticed the telltale signs of his Turk returning to consciousness. He narrowed his eyes when Reno came to and raised a thin eyebrow at the abject fear he saw in the man's eyes. Staying well back from the bed Tseng locked eyes with Reno and quietly said, 'Reno, you're in the hospital. It's Tseng, there's only me here. You're safe from whoever did this.'

On hearing Tseng's familiar voice Reno all but collapsed back onto the bed and let out a shaky breath. He didn't know how he had gotten to the hospital or why he wasn't in the Medical Wing of Shin-Ra Corp but the fact that Tseng was there and Veld wasn't wiped most other considerations from his mind. Most considerations, but not all. Panic flaring again in his expression Reno rolled over so his back was to his boss. All that was running through his mind now was 'Oh Gaia. Tseng knows. He knows what had to be done because I fucked up so bad.'

Tseng frowned at Reno's prompt withdrawal and leant forward in his seat. 'Reno,' he stated. 'We will find who did this. I need you to tell me what happened so we can bring down this bastard.'

Reno interrupted Tseng's words with a painful chuckle that turned into a barking laugh. 'You want to know what happened yo? Just ask those doctors who brought me in. I'm sure they told you in excruciating detail what went on. Come on in and take a look at the Turk who wouldn't learn his lesson yo? And don't bother trying to get out of me who did this. It's not like it would do any good anyway. Just leave.'

Tseng was totally stunned at the hollow sound of Reno's usually upbeat voice and sensed that there was a shitload going on beneath the surface of the redhead's words. Slowly getting up out of his chair Tseng walked to the door before stopping and looking back at Reno. 'I'm going to talk to the doctors Reno, but you're on supervision until I say otherwise. I will be back soon and I won't be leaving.'

Reno ostensibly ignored Tseng as he left the room and closed the door, but as soon as the latch clicked he sat up slowly. The thought of his co-workers knowing the extent of his screw up and the details of the resulting punishments tipped his fragile psyche over the edge and all he could think about was escape. Given a choice Reno would have spent a day or two in the hospital with a Cure Materia or two and given a flamboyant excuse to cover his injuries and absence, but this time there was no hiding what happened from either Tseng or his associates.

Ignoring the stabbing pains from his many injuries Reno hobbled from his bed to the door to flip the lock and then glanced around the room. Broken as he never had been even in his years on the streets of the slums, Reno searched the room for anything he could use to end it. Swearing softly he decided that the hospital room was empty of anything sufficiently deadly until his steadily more agitated gaze lit on the large window facing over the carpark.

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Tseng cornered a doctor in one of the interminable off-white corridors, five minutes stalk from Reno's room. Towering a full foot above the physician the Wutaiin Turk quietly informed the doctor of what he would be told in the next few seconds. 'There are things about Reno's condition you haven't told me doctor and you will relate everything to me. I won't bother making threats as I judge being alone with me in a quiet corner of the hospital threat enough. Tell me what you haven't told me. Now.'

Eyes wide with fear and physically quivering in the face of the Turk's quiet menace, the doctor opened his mouth and just about gabbled the details. 'He, he wasn't just beaten sir, that would have been b-bad enough given the severity of the injuries. The young m-man was violated by w-whoever beat him, he was almost torn apart by the violence...'

The doctor trailed off into choked silence at the look of savage violence building in Tseng's face. Gesturing sharply for the doctor to go Tseng stood motionless for a full twenty seconds before wheeling around and setting out for Reno's room again. Muttering an fluent string of vituperative Wutaiin swears under his breath Tseng vowed that he would get the identity of Reno's attacker somehow.

Arriving back at Reno's room in less than two minutes due to his determined gait, Tseng went to open the door quietly and reenter the room. Locked. Not good, not fucking good at all. Without missing a beat Tseng drew back and delivered a thundering kick into the door slamming it back against the wall. Luckily Tseng was not the sort to freeze when encountering something terrifying as when he dashed into the room he was confronted with Reno framed in the jagged glass of the broken window.

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Reno hadn't realized just how much his strength had been sapped by the brutal beating and the subsequent few hours of accelerated healing in the hospital so it took him almost five whole minutes to even drag a chair over to break the window. He reached into reserves he didn't know he had and hurled the steel chair straight through the middle of the glass. As the fragments of the window rained down, Reno felt overwhelmed with a very strange sense of modesty and struggled into a clean pair of jeans Tseng must have brought in under the hospital robe. If he was going to die, he was damned if he was going to do it with a bare ass.

Once he yanked the pants over his bare hips Reno staggered over to stand in the window frame staring down at the floodlit concrete below. With the very last of his strength he hauled himself onto the bottom windowsill and balanced there for a long second. Startled by the crash of the door behind him, Reno swiveled on the thin strip of windowsill with the balance of a cat and met Tseng's horrified eyes. Gracing his boss with an affectionate ghost of a smile Reno mouthed, 'I'm sorry.' and let himself arch backwards into space.

The one thing Reno had not counted on though in his fractured mental state was the almost supernatural quickness that Tseng was able to move with. Without seeming to pass through the intervening space the Turk raced from the door to the window and threw himself out into space reaching desperately for Reno. One strong hand snagged Reno's wrist and clamped down implacably while simultaneously he latched his other hand onto the lip outside the window holding onto both for dear life.

When he felt Tseng's fingers close around his wrist Reno let out an involuntary scream of anger mixed with pain and sorrow. The force he let out the sound with, on top of the exertion it had taken to get him out of the window in the first place taxed Reno beyond the limits of his strength and he passed out of consciousness again. The last thing he saw as he fell into darkness was the agonized gaze of a pair of beautiful brown eyes looking down at him.

Trying to suppress a horrified shudder at how close the call had been Tseng set about the arduous task of hauling both himself and the dead weight of Reno back over the sill. Once he had them both inside he collapsed with his back to the wall, Reno cradled in his lap. Succumbing to an overwhelming impulse that he would have suppressed if he wasn't so distressed and weary, Tseng let his hand slide down Reno's cheek and cup the man's chin with a featherlight touch.

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This time when Reno awoke he was in almost complete darkness, and in total silence. The small amount of light that glimmered in the room came from a small reading light in the corner, illuminating a thick book in the hands of a shadowy figure seated there. Reno shrank back into the pillows on his bed a scream choking off his breath. He recognized the scarred and gnarled hands holding the book, sitting in the corner of the room was Veld.

A lot happened in a very short period of time. Reno scrabbled backwards off his bed falling to the ground, and in almost the same instant Veld had lunged across the room and hurdled the bed to land right on top of Reno pinning him to the ground. As Reno lay there frozen with terror Veld grinned a sadistic grin and whispered in his ear, 'Hello Turk.'

Veld placed a huge hand over Reno's windpipe and pressed down just enough to make the redhead gag and gasp for breath. 'I know what will happen now Reno, and I know what you will do if you want to keep breathing. You will keep that pretty mouth of yours shut tight about what happened in the basement or what happened there will seem like a party compared to what I will do. In fact rest assured that before I'm done with you Reno you will be screaming for death. So, no talking okay my little Turk?'

With a last heartless smirk Veld slapped Reno hard across the face knocking his head back onto the hard linoleum floor. Pushing himself to his feet and straightening his slightly rumpled suit Veld strode out of the hospital room without a backwards glance. On the floor Reno lay, frozen in the position Veld left him. The situation he was in had knocked all of his customary carefree nature and cockiness out of him leaving only fear. Losing all semblance of control Reno curled into a ball and tried to choke back tearing sobs.

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After he had muscled Reno's body back onto his bed Tseng had collapsed to the floor trying to stop shaking. He could not believe how close Reno had come to losing his life, not once but twice in such a short time. On the brief occasion he cared to admit it (if only in the privacy of his own head) Tseng felt more for his best Turk than a boss should feel for his employees and he was more shaken by what had happened than he had been even by some of the most horrific missions he had been sent on.

When he had managed to calm his breathing and regain his iron self control, Tseng struggled to his feet and gazed down at Reno's still form. Narrowing his eyes Tseng turned reluctantly away from the bed a plan starting to take shape in his mind. Stepping outside and quietly closing the door, Tseng called for a doctor to organize getting Reno into a new room. Preferably one without windows. As soon as he was satisfied that things were happening Tseng stalked out of the hospital to put his putative plan into motion.

Tseng kept his face completely impassive as the man in front of him tapped his chin thoughtfully. If there was any other way of keeping Reno safe until he knew what was going on, any one else he could turn to, Tseng would have done so, but he was out of options. Not even letting his breathing give away the anxiety that was gnawing at him, the Wutaiin Turk stood to attention in front of the desk of Rufus Shinra.

Rufus hid a smile as he watched Tseng from under lowered lashes. The man was so controlled, so restrained, but still the vice-president of ShinRa could see his agitation. Drawing the moment out for as long as possible Rufus finally spoke, 'So let me get this straight Tseng. You want Reno withdrawn from active duty for the foreseeable future, him to be placed in a safe house, and to top it all off you want dispensation to be his full-time guard? Tell me one thing Turk, what possible reason could I have for granting this, and under the very nose of my venerable father no less.'

Unconsciously biting his lip Tseng forced himself to meet Rufus's eyes. He knew there was no way he would just get things given to him but it still didn't mean he wanted to bare his soul to the twisted son of Shinra. 'Sir, Reno was beaten almost to death within the walls of ShinRa. It was a brutal assault administered by a trained soldier and the only conclusion I can come to is that it was a Turk that did this. And sir, there is something of the situation you won't be aware of...'

Rufus's eyes lit up at this admission and he lent forward to lean his elbows on his desk. 'So Tseng, tell me what is it you haven't told me.' He murmured with a small smile touching his lips, unwittingly echoing Tseng's words from earlier. He did in fact know most of the details of Reno's condition and was interested to see what Tseng would say next.

Dropping the formalities and most of his mask Tseng took the risk he had been building up to since the beginning of the meeting. 'Rufus, Reno tried to kill himself just an hour ago. I left his room for five minutes and he broke a window and jumped. Whatever is going on here isn't just Reno mouthing off and getting punished...' He trailed off seeing the look of complete incredulity on the vice-president's face. 'Sir?'

Trying to pull himself together, Rufus closed his gaping mouth and fixed Tseng with a penetrating look. As vice-president of the company he had read the psych profiles on every one of his Turks and Reno's had indicated an almost overabundance of optimism and jaunty good-humor. Of all the things he had expected Tseng to reveal, suicidal tendencies in Reno was not even on the list. 'Alright Tseng you have my attention.' He muttered. 'Now what else is it that you are trying to pretend I can't tell that you are hiding?'

Cursing in the privacy of his head Tseng dropped his eyes. 'Well Sir, the.. Ah Gaia, the assault wasn't just physical. Whoever beat him half to death... They raped him. Brutally. And Reno won't say who did it. I can't even go after the bastard that did this...'

Realizing just how much he had said and inadvertently revealed Tseng shut his mouth with a snap. Waiting for Rufus to pounce on the inference that he cared this much about Reno Tseng let the silence stretch into minutes before daring to meet the man's eyes again. What he saw was something he really really had not expected. Compassion.

'Tseng... You might think I'm a heartless bastard and well, my father's son, but I can see that this is affecting you. My father may just see the Turks as his own little dispensable toys, but believe it or not I would prefer to keep you all alive and as happy as possible. Take the house near the edge of the Plate, you know the one, and keep that damn Reno alive. I wouldn't like to think how boring it would be around here without his particular brand of input. You can rest assured that I will be starting an investigation, covert of course, into just what happened and just who made it happen. You will be kept informed on everything.'

Ignoring Tseng's unguarded look of shock Rufus sat back in his chair and waved a languid hand. 'Now if that is all, I think you should go and make sure the house is prepared for a long stay. Don't let me keep you.' And with that he turned his chair to face the panoramic window behind him, hiding a smile as Tseng set off, his step much lighter than when he came in.

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For the third time in as many days Reno awoke to completely unfamiliar surroundings. This time though he forced himself to relax into the soft bed he was lying on and take stock. The room was definitely not in a hospital for a start, the sheets were not the generic puke green for one. And the room seemed full of, well, stuff for lack of a better term. There were three bookshelves chock full of thick books, and under the window there was a desk with a comfy chair. Hang on, window?

Sitting up slowly to make sure he didn't open the stitches he sure as hell could feel Reno winced as the memories of the night before crept back into his brain. Furrowing his brow Reno thought back to the end of the memories involving the window, now that couldn't be right. He seemed to be able to remember Tseng staring down on his dangling body with an expression as tortured as it was full of love.

Sneering to himself Reno gave himself a mental slap. 'Get a grip dumbass, there is no way in the seven circles of hell that could happen. Gaia, I must have been high on painkillers and near death, people don't look at me like that.'

Flopping back onto the bed Reno somehow forgot that the day before he had been almost beaten to death. As he hit the bed his ribs ground together and a resounding scream echoed around the house. Almost before the scream had stopped, the door flew open and standing there with his gun at the ready was Tseng. When he scanned the room and found Reno alone, he leant back on the doorframe and clutched his chest.

'For Gaia's sake Reno are you trying to kill me?' He muttered. 'I knew I should have put you in the basement for the first few days.' As he regained his breath Tseng noticed that he seemed to be holding a monologue and that even though Reno was actually curled into a ball clutching his ribs, he let out a choked sob at the word 'basement'.

Tseng swiftly strode over to the bed and sunk to his knees on the carpet. Tilting his head he looked up into Reno's face, cringing slightly at the torment apparent in the man's fine features. Pushing him gently onto his back Tseng lifted the sweat-soaked t-shirt that hung from Reno's frame to see if he could ease the pain obviously radiating from the redhead's ribs.

Stoic and controlled though he was Tseng couldn't help letting out an angry hiss at the sight of Reno's abused body. There was not one part of his torso that was Reno's normal pale skin-tone, instead his entire chest and ribs were a single mottled black and blue bruise. Biting his lip hard so he didn't curse at this evidence of horrific violence Tseng reached for small container of Cure brand ointment and began to gently apply it to the places where the doctors had said the ribs were broken.

Resolutely refusing to look at Tseng Reno bit back a groan at the dull ache that preceded the Cure working. As soon as his boss took his hand away Reno rolled over and gingerly hunched himself into a tight ball. He held his breath until he heard the door close and then let it out in a shuddering sob that turned into burning tears. Reno hadn't let a tear fall since his years in the slums, but now he couldn't stop the quiet keening that escaped from his throat. It was many long hours before Reno cried himself into an exhausted sleep.
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Who Watches the Watchmen