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Evolution of a Turk	By : Kathythetwisted Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 1001 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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
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Summary and warnings are listed before chapter 1.

Disclaimer: Anything and everything related to Final Fantasy VII is all property of Square-Enix. I own nothing, I just do this for fun.

A/N: This chapter is weak and I'm truly sorry.

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Elena was right, much as Reno hated to admit it. He did feel better now that they had reached land. He still didn�t feel great by any means, but he could at least function again. He and Rude had said little to one another since his outburst, as neither man was the type to own up to a mistake. Reno was just that way, and Rude so rarely made a mistake, he didn�t have much practice making amends.

The Turks were currently in Costa del Sol, inhabiting a small beachfront bed and breakfast big enough for the four of them, but not for anyone else. Perfect. The proprietors were fine with it as well, as Shin-Ra was paying them a nice rate for the use of their establishment with no questions asked.

Rude had been playing a game of pool downstairs when Reno strolled over to him. He raised an eyebrow above his sunglasses.

Reno waved him off. �On the ship, I know. Just fucking forget about it. Over and done with, alright?�

�Then?�

�We�re cool,� Reno said simply. �Unless you...�

Rude nodded, standing up straight and leaning on his pool cue. �We�re cool.�

Reno stepped forward, grabbing at a cue for himself, as Rude silently racked the balls. Reno leaned forward to take his shot a moment later, but before the tip of his stick had touched the cue ball, something outside the window had caught his eye. �Mother fucker,� he muttered, nastily.

Rude turned to look outside.

Hojo. No mistaking him. He was strolling down the street, with a girl on each arm, pasty and sadistic looking as ever, and still in his lab coat from the looks of things. But Rude was only momentarily concerned with that. What he really wanted to know was: what the hell was Hojo doing here? Sun and surf, tourists and attractions. Had the former head of the Shin-Ra Science Department really fled Midgar for Costa del Sol?

Reno slammed his cue stick down on the table and headed for the door, declaring, with a growl, �I�m gonna string him up by the fucking balls.�

Rude had managed to restrain him, though it wasn't such an easy task as one might think. He was all muscle, but Reno was all speed. Rude was a wall, but Reno was lightning-quick. Rude didn't say a word, just held onto his thrashing, swearing, and altogether furious partner until Hojo was out of sight. He just didn't have the words. What was he going to say to Reno? That he'd regret it? The hell he would. That it wasn't worth it? The hell it wasn't. Hojo had been playing god for years. Killing him would most definitely be worth it. Reno just happened to be the latest on the long list of people who deserved to take him out.

Elena's approach -- no doubt she'd heard the commotion -- was the only thing that calmed Reno down. For as much as he wanted at Hojo, he wanted even more not to have to explain himself to her. She'd never let him rest until she knew just why his electro-mag-rod had gone in one of Hojo's ears and out the other.

Feeling Reno stop resisting in his arms, Rude let him go.

"What happened?" Elena asked, breathless, unsure of just what she'd missed, but certain that whatever it was, it was big.

"Not now," Rude said, though he seemed to be addressing Reno, rather than Elena.

"Then when?" Reno hissed.

"Not now," Rude repeated.

Reno angrily straightened his shirt.

"Elena," Rude looked at the blonde.

"Yes?"

"Tell Tseng we've found Hojo," he instructed her.

"Alright," she agreed, turning and heading to find the Turks' leader. She glanced back for a second. "And you two?"

"Don't worry about us," Rude told her.

She gave a quick, "Mmm hmm," and made her exit. She was beyond curious as to why Reno was so angry, and what, if anything, Hojo had to do with it. But she couldn't worry about it in that moment, she had a message to relay to Tseng.

**************************

Rude didn't say anything, nor did he let on, but he was worried about Reno. It certainly wasn't the first time, but this was different. This wasn't just the result of Reno's inherent recklessness for once. This was unlike any trouble Reno had ever gotten himself into, and that was saying a lot. Because of that, Rude couldn't just shrug it off and tell himself, 'Typical Reno.' He couldn't just let go of it.

Worse yet, he couldn't hold onto it either. Reno snapped at him on the off chance he tried to ask how he was doing. Not to mention what had happened on the ship, or later on in Costa, when Reno had seen Hojo. At best, the redhead would respond to any concern with snarl and roll his eyes, or maybe mutter a "Fuck off," or a "None of your fucking business."

Reno had said little, just stared up at the retreating Shin-Ra helicopter he and Rude had very recently departed, while Rude stared at him.

Gongaga was surrounded by a thick forest. Reno and Rude had been dropped off at the edge of the woods and told to see to it that nobody interrupted Scarlet while she "cleaned up" at the old reactor. Nobody, of course, meant Avalanche.

Thanks to Reeve, or Cait Sith, rather, they knew Cloud and his companions had been to the Gold Saucer and were headed for Gongaga next. One of their group was from Cosmo Canyon, and the only way there was past Gongaga.

"This is probably good, yeah?" Reno asked, slowing to a stop and leaning against a tree.

Rude was a step behind him. Approaching him, he shrugged.

Reno yawned. "They better hurry up. I'm fucking tired."

Rude nodded. He was tired too. Hadn't been sleeping incredibly well. He'd already dedicated most of his downtime to thinking about Reno, and how his condition was going to effect... well, everything for the time being.

"So..." Reno piped up, sick of the silence. It had only been a few minutes, but that was Reno, restless to no end.

Rude raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Reno smirked, looking like himself for the first time in several weeks, and called out, "Hey, Rude. Who do you like?"

Rude turned away and shook his head.

Reno used to joke like that a lot. He'd make fun of all the giggly secretaries always gossiping about who was fucking whom, or who wanted to fuck whom, and whatnot. Reno would randomly bat his eyelashes at Rude and ask, "Who do you like, Rude?" Of course, he rarely stopped at that. His voice would get higher with each remark he made, and each remark he made would get cruder and cruder the longer he'd drag it on. One time he'd even put his hair in pigtails and asked his partner if it made him look fat, midway through his merciless mocking.

"Hey, Rude. What do you make of that new maintenance guy? I think he's pretty dreamy, but he is just a janitor."

"Hey, Rude. I say he's doing it with that little hussy of an intern. And with a wife at home... what do you think?"

"Hey, Rude. If you had to suck off either Palmer or Heidegger, who would you choose? Hmm? Who would it be, Rude?"

Obviously, Rude was used to this game of Reno's by now.

When Rude said nothing, Reno continued prodding, asking, "What are you getting so embarrassed about? Come on. Who do you like?"

Rude's posture changed, and he seemed to be watching something in the distance. "...Tifa."

She was a step ahead of those she was traveling with -- Cloud and the Ancient -- and her bust was a step ahead of her.

"Hmm..." Reno murmured, misunderstanding. "That's a tough one."

Rude didn't take his eyes off of Cloud, Tifa and Aeris. They were gaining on him and Reno, but hadn't spotted them yet.

"But poor Elena... she... you..." Reno said, sounding confused.

Rude rolled his eyes, his back still to Reno. It was almost funny the way his partner was misinterpreting things. �No. She likes Tseng," he said, feeling very much like he was stating the obvious.

"I never knew that!" Reno exclaimed.

How could you not? Rude wondered. It was plain as day. And Reno was no slouch. He was damn good at reading people. In fact, he had a real talent for weaseling out of them that which they'd prefer to keep to themselves. Then again, he was just a little off lately. He had enough of his own shit to deal with.

"But Tseng likes that Ancient." Reno said, almost disgustedly. Something told him that was why his boss was acting the way he was about the whole matter of his pregnancy. His pregnancy. He wanted to cringe over the very word, and his association with it.

Rude nodded, and from their reduced distance, he realized Cloud had finally noticed him. Cloud had noticed Reno and Rude, but not Elena, as she stood right behind him.

Seeming quite surprised to see two Turks conversing like human beings, Cloud asked, �What are they talking about?�

�It�s so stupid! They always talk about who they like or don�t like,� Elena informed him, with an eye roll. �But Tseng is different.� She paused and gave Rude a look. Time to get to work. Changing her demeanor, she stammered, �Oh no! They�re here! They�re really here!� and shoved past the trio and over to her comrades.

Reno pushed off the tree he�d been leaning on, and said, �Hmm... then it�s time,� stoically.

Elena threw Tseng�s name out there, saying she�d go on ahead and report to him, and scampered off, headed for what remained of the Gongaga mako reactor.

�Rude,� Reno called out, gripping his electro-mag-rod. �Don�t go easy on them just because they�re girls.�

�...don�t worry. I�ll do my job,� Rude assured him, assuming a fighting stance.

The fight hadn�t been much more than circling and name calling, with a little bit of shoving. Reno was downright livid when Cloud claimed to have no memory of their encounter at Sector Seven. Only a few punches were thrown, fewer still actually connected, and Aeris eyed Reno suspiciously the entire time. She appeared to be more of a hindrance to her friends than anything, seeming to conveniently get in the way whenever one of them was close to nailing Reno. The battle continued, though, pointless as it looked and felt for all involved, until the sound of chopper blades cutting through the air caught everyone�s attention.

Scarlet was done at the reactor. Reno and Rude were off the hook.

Reno looked up at the helicopter and, taking a step back from the fight, said, �We may be retreating, but we�re still victorious.�

He and Rude weaved in and out of the trees, making their way to the rendezvous point as quickly as they could.

**************************

Soon as Reno and Rude were reunited with their comrades, Elena asked, "Are you hurt? Either of you?"

Rude shook his head. "Wasn't much of a fight."

"Yeah, what Rude said," Reno echoed.

"It wasn't intended to be," Tseng murmured, casting Reno a glance.

Reno's response was to roll his eyes and snort. He wouldn't have minded much if it had been a hard-fought battle between him and Rude, and Avalanche. The way he saw it, it was their fault this had happened to him. If they hadn't triple-teamed him -- after he set the bomb, no less -- none of this would've happened.

"I had his back," Rude said, exchanging a look with Tseng. He then looked to Reno. "and he had mine."

"Damn right," Reno said.

"You're really okay? You still don't look well. Sometimes these things catch up with you later, you know," Elena pointed out, very much the mother-hen.

"I'm fine, damnit. Quit harassing me."

"Oh, that's nice, Reno. Someone shows concern for you and you accuse them of harassment," Elena grumbled.

"People get too interested in you... shit just gets fucked up," Reno said, softly, in a reflective tone, following the statement with a headshake. He seemed to be talking more to himself than Elena.

Conversation all but ceased, with Reno and Elena out of words for one another and Rude and Tseng both choosing to keep theirs to themselves. Elena was a fellow Turk, and while keeping her in the dark seemed to go against so-called "Turk ethics," Reno was adamant about it -- he didn't want her to know. He fully intended to have his problem taken care of without Elena ever being the wiser. Tseng had known almost from the get-go -- longer than Reno, in fact -- and Reno had told Rude himself. He hadn't exactly done it in a diplomatic manner, of course, but he had come out and explained things to his partner.

Nobody saw Elena narrow her eyes as she retrieved something from her jacket pocket, nor did they see her press her left palm firmly against her right forearm. It wasn't until a faint yellow glow could be seen seeping through the tiny space between her fingers that Tseng, Reno and Rude knew she'd just armed herself with some sort of materia. "You don't want to tell me, I'll just see for myself," she remarked, brazenly.

"What the hell?" Reno demanded.

"Sense materia," Rude concluded.

"Where did you get it?" Tseng asked.

"Found it while we were sweeping the reactor." Elena's smug smile faded quickly, her face falling completely. "Reno...?" Eyes wide with concern, she nervously called out his name.

"What?" he demanded, in a subdued, but dangerous tone.

"You... you're... that can't be..."

A/N: Another chapter done. Like I said before, I'm sorry it's kind of weak. (It's the Gongaga forest part I don't like -- the part where I used most of the in-game dialogue.) I'd still love to hear feedback on it.
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Evolution of a Turk