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Lae to Waste	By : RikuRocks Category: Final Fantasy VII > Crossovers Views: 807 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Final Fantasy VII or Kingdom Hearts, nor am I making any money from this work of fiction.

Chapter List
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It was well into the next morning when Lae finally trudged down the hallway that led to his hotel room. He was exhausted from his first day of work and his nerves were shot. The redhead was not sure if Tseng had made sure that everyone gave him a hard welcoming or if ShinRa was always that way, but he had been on edge all day.

Reeve Teusti had been all right, as had most of his direct subordinates, but anytime Lae to cross paths with someone outside of the Urban Development department, which was often given his position, he immediately got the feeling he was being scrutinised�and that Dot-Head would be hearing about his every move.

The green-eyed man also had to pass several sealed messages to and from Mr Teusti and Shalua Rei, who headed the science department. While many others told him that the doctor was a great improvement from her predecessor, the redhead could not help but feel slightly threatened and creeped out by the scientist. He was glad he had never met Dr Hojo. Her subordinates seemed dedicated and a little rough around the edges, so the redhead made it a point never to linger in the science department.

Lae had gotten along well with the head of the Space Exploration department, Shera Highwind, who had already invited the green-eyed man to stop by her house sometime for a drink and to meet her husband, Cid. Most of her subordinates were all right, when they were not simply too busy or focused to notice him�after he had received several colourful threats on what would be done to him if he touched anything.

The members of ShinRa�s military seemed to be following Turk�s lead where Lae was concerned, giving the tall man several glares and uncomfortable stares throughout the day. The redhead had not met the other executives, and had no idea who the vice president was, but overall, he thought he could make it.

For the time being, Lae simply wanted to take a shower and go to sleep. However, both desires fled his mind as soon as he unlocked and opened his door, only to find a shorter, younger, blue-eyed redhead sitting in one of the chairs by the window that overlooked the room�s balcony. The older redhead kicked the door closed and stepped in the room as the younger turned and stood to face him.

�What, they just let you in here?� Lae scoffed and dropped his coat over a chair before tossing his new alarm clock on the bed, �Or did you threaten to eviscerate the front deskman if he didn�t let you in?�

Reno scoffed as well, �Let? What are you thinkin�? I coulda picked that lock when I was nine, yo.� He looked over his brother�s slightly haggard appearance, �See you had a warm ShinRa welcoming.�

The taller redhead snorted, �If by �warm� you mean the raging glares of death I kept receiving whenever one of your peers or acquaintances saw me, then yeah. Fuck, and I thought I was a master with fire.�

The younger man shrugged a shoulder, and for the first time that he could recall, Lae detected a bit of the elegance one would expect a child sired by Shinra to posses. He had to wonder if it was just his imagination, now that he knew the truth about his little brother�s parentage. Reno spoke again before he could think on the idea too much, and the blue-eyed youth�s dialect erased any thoughts of good breeding from Lae�s mind.

�We take care of our own, and if you can�t take the heat, you don�t belong�� He eyed the taller man briefly before turning to the large sliding glass door that led to the terrace. �I woulda thought you could take it though�always had that weird obsession with fire, yo.�

�Heat, I can handle,� the green-eyed man shot back irritably; �It�s the tricky bastards and all their subterfuge I don�t take to so well. I feel like I�ve been played for the past eighteen hours straight, and I don�t think I�ve ever been threatened that many times in one day�and I�ve had cutthroat positions before, Kiddo.�

The Turk released a small sigh before turning around. �Well, you�re alive and your knees are still bent the right way an� all, so I guess Rude, Tseng, and Shachou decided you weren�t gonna be too much trouble. You should count yourself lucky; they don�t play around with this sorta thing.�

�So you knew?�

��Course I knew.�

Lae gaped for a moment before narrowing his eyes. �What, so�your boyfriend just tells you he�s going out to meet your brother and �oh, by the way, I might kill him� and that�s just fine?�

Reno�s expression was confident, but not smug or unrepentant. �He didn�t say anything�didn�t have to, yo. I know my Aibou.�

The older man simply stared at the shorter redhead for a moment, somewhat taken back by his calm and almost content tone. He had not expected his little brother to be so cool or poised when they finally started talking. He decided to stick to the topics he could wrap his head around for now; ��And you were okay with that?�

The shorter redhead shrugged lightly and the barest hint of a smile touched his lips. �I�d have done the same thing if someone who could hurt him crawled outta the woodwork.�

Lae could not ever recall having been in love, but he decided that was fair enough. The others, however, were another matter entirely. �What about Dot-Head?� He made no effort to keep the aggression or accusation out of his voice. �I didn�t know it was even possible to threaten someone that successfully without laying hand to them or even verbalising it much.�

�Tseng,� Reno�s tone made it clear he was correcting his brother, but not threatening him. �The Boss-Man�s tried to look out for me too well for too long for me to question his motives now, yo. I dunno why he�d ever care enough to try to protect the old man�s little bastard slum brat, but he did.�

The way the younger man spoke of his superior made the level of respect and affection he felt for him clear and Lae was too surprised by this to react to his little brother�s words for a moment. Then, he realised what Reno had just called himself.

�You even knew the little shit was going to tell me that, didn�t you? Fuck, did they clear everything with you first? Or did they just have the decency to inform you of how they�d be threatening your big brother?�

Blue eyes hardened, and while the effect was similar, Lae noticed that they still did not reach the same level of coldness that Reno�s other brother had. Reno turned back to the view as he responded; �I don�t know everything they said to you, but that doesn�t matter. I know why they said it.

��And they don�t clear much with anybody, yo. I�m probably one of the few they�d bother informing at all. Rufus had to make sure I was okay with him telling you about our old man, though. If you don�t understand that -don�t understand him- then it�s been too long since you thought like a brother.�

The last remark hurt, and Lae found himself lashing out before he even thought about his words. �You sure he�s not thinking like a leader? Or a man who just doesn�t want any competition�? I�m sure a lot of people would take their chances on a bastard slum brat if it meant getting a new Shinra in charge of things.�

�There�s plenty who would;� by the younger man�s voice, Lae knew he had chosen the wrong tactic, �Which is why the identity of the vice president is only known to Shachou, me, Rude, and the ShinRa executives. There�s prob�bly also some assholes who�d like to take out all of us...thinkin� ShinRa would finally stay down and the WRO would reform or something.

�But those were Shachou decisions,� the shorter redhead turned back to his brother, and his eyes lacked the cold of his other brother�s glacier blues, as well as the heat of his mother�s emerald greens. For some reason, that drove his words home for Lae. �Rufus has only let three -now four- people know about me, because there are also plenty of jack asses who would hurt either of us just to get back at the company or our old man�or go after the current president�s little brother so they could use him as a bargaining tool.

�More important to any of that shit, yo -at least to Rufus and Tseng- is that I�m not ready to be Reno fuckin� ShinRa�not to the world anyway. That�s why there is a vice president, yo. The minute I�m ready, the position�s mine, but I don�t wanna rule the world �cause I see how hard it is for my big brother to do it.�

Lae flinched at the sound of Reno calling Shinra his brother with such ease. �Sorry if you don�t like hearin� me call him that, but if you liked the title so much, you shouldn�t have walked away from it, yo.�

The older redhead narrowed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths to calm himself before raising a hand in placation and replying; �Okay�I probably deserved that. So before I say something to completely fuck this up, why don�t you tell me why you�re here?�

Reno made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan as he turned to face the window, turning his back to his brother. �I think I�m the one who should be askin� that, yo.�

�It�s my room, Kiddo.� Lae walked further into the room, but kept a reasonable distance between himself and his little brother, not wanting to make him feel cornered. �Where the hell else would I be?�

�Yeah, but why are you here at all?� The shorter man crossed his arms; �I wasn�t sure how much I wanted to know�how much actually mattered; but you obviously aren�t goin� anywhere, so we might as well have it out, yo.�

�You sure, Kiddo? You�re not going to like most of it,� the green-eyed man sighed.

The shorter redhead nodded. �I�ve heard your story from Rufus and half of Turk already�now I wanna hear it from you.�

The older man sighed again and pulled out a cigarette. �All right�I guess I owe you that after showing up like I did. You wanna sit down?� Lae sat on the end of his bed and indicated a chair on the other side of the room, but Reno shook his head. The taller man shrugged and lit up, �Suit yourself.�

Lae explained everything then, as well as he could. He started much as he had with Rude, with how and why he joined the gang, but he skimmed the details of his deeds with them. The green-eyed man simply could not stand to tell his little brother some of the things he had done, and he figured Reno could guess better than anyone else could anyway, being familiar with the slums, the mob, and Turk.

The taller man went into more detail about becoming a Nobody than he had with anyone else, and even told Reno what little he could recall of his time as Axel. He was also blunter about his search for the younger man, paying especially close attention to the younger man�s back when he spoke of Hyde and what Grey and Marley had told him. Reno�s posture had been a little stiff throughout the story already, and with him facing away, Lae could not discern if that part of the tale affected him.

Lae even told his brother about his talks with Rude, Tseng, and Rufus, as well as his first impressions of everyone at ShinRa. He saved the bit about why he joined Turk for last, before finally going into detail about what the strange voice had told him when he first woke up after his second �death�. Part of him had not wanted to tell Reno about that, knowing it would give the younger man reason to question why Lae suddenly wanted back in his life.

After he finished speaking, for what felt like hours, the taller redhead simply waited for his little brother to respond. It took a few minutes, and Lae wondered if Reno was simply processing all of the information, choosing his words, or tethering his emotions.

�Thanks, yo.� The words were quiet, emotionless, and sounded nothing like Reno.

Lae blinked and stood again, facing his brother. �That�s it? I know you probably expected most of the shit from before I left, but I figured you�d at least have some reaction to the rest.�

The younger man�s voice was calm and oddly casual when he finally responded. Lae supposed he should not have expected much of a reaction from a Turk, let alone his little brother. �Well, I�m not gonna pretend to understand all this �Nobody� shit, yo; but if�whatever the voice was�said that you have until my heart loses faith in you to find whatever it is you need, then you don�t have to worry.�

�I�m not so sure about that. No offence Kiddo, but I don�t exactly have a good track record for earning faith�and it didn�t specify your heart,� replied the taller redhead, lighting another cigarette and walking to stand on the other end of the large window. He could at least see the younger man�s profile from there.

�You smoke too much, yo,� commented Reno with a smirk before responding to his brother�s words. ��Course it meant my heart�that�s what this whole thing is about.� The smirk faltered, and his voice lowered slightly, �Besides, my mind gave up on you a long time ago.�

Lae frowned as he looked at his little brother, who appeared slightly pained by his own confession. �What�but, you�ve been searching all this time�� He rolled his eyes as a thought occurred to him, �You don�t have to try to sound grown-up, Kiddo. I mean, you still have a fuckin� PI on standby.�

The shorter man shook his head slowly, a somewhat sad smile on his face, �Rude mentioned that, huh? He didn�t tell you why though, did he?� He sighed and looked out the large hotel window, staring at the star-filled sky beyond impassively. �It�s a lot nicer up here, isn�t it? I�m glad I moved, but that doesn�t mean I don�t care about what happens in the lower plates anymore.�

Blue eyes shifted to look at Lae, who wore a confused expression on his face at the apparent change in subject. Reno�s expression, however, remained impassive as he spoke. �Between the rumours I heard while I was lookin� for you and everything the PI turned up, I knew what you�d become.� The younger man turned his gaze to the sky again, �I know you left me, yo.�

Green eyes turned to the shorter man as Lae�s mouth fell open, but no words came out. He honestly had no idea what to say to that. Denying it would be a lie, and he had hurt his brother enough already. He closed his mouth and looked out the window again, taking a long drag from his cigarette. �I�m sorry�I don�t know what else to say.�

�There isn�t anything else to say,� replied the smaller redhead, still staring out at the night�s sky. �You know, life isn�t always a two-way street, yo. Usually, it�s one-way only�giving� doesn�t always mean getting�. You taught me that�because I never stopped cairn� about you, but that didn�t stop you from not cairn� about me anymore.

�It�s okay,� he stated before the older man could interrupt. �Everyone needs to learn that at some point, and I�m a big boy now; I can take it. Besides, I also learned that sometimes it really does go both ways�Rude showed me that. So I guess it all balances out in the end, yo.�

Reno cleared his throat quietly. �I could never find out what happened to you after the Heartless appeared. ShinRa acted quickly enough that there weren�t that many deaths, but the Heartless mainly hit the slums, so ShinRa wasn�t able to get the names of all the victims. I might have accepted what you were and what I was to you, but that didn�t mean I could stop cairn��

�I had the PI keep lookin� because I wanted to know if you were still alive somewhere. It didn�t matter if you were hidin� or didn�t want anything to do with me; I wanted to know that you were okay because I still loved you. I still do, yo�and I guess always will.� The younger man finally looked at his brother again, �So don�t worry about disappearin� into the void or becomin� a Nobody again or whatever��

The older man just continued to stare at the view for a moment, smoking non-stop and trying to figure out what all of this meant. Some part of him was surprised and hurt by everything that his little brother had just said, but a larger part was proud at the strength and wisdom that Reno clearly possessed. The young man knew how to accept the hand that was dealt to him and play it up to its fullest�but then, Lae figured he should hardly find that surprising since Reno had always done that.

�Here,� Reno pressed something into Lae�s free hand before turning and heading for the door. �Maybe I�ll see you around.� The blue-eyed man�s voice was a little tight, but steady. It was clear enough that, while he did not like the idea of not seeing his brother again, he was willing to accept it as something beyond his control.

The older redhead looked down at the item in his hand, and saw that Reno had returned his goggles. He turned his head toward his little brother, who was only a yard away from the door. �Reno�� The younger man stopped but did not turn around. �I didn�t hold up my end of the deal, remember?�

�I remember,� the shorter man stated before turning his head to look over his shoulder, �But that doesn�t mean I�m not gonna hold up mine. I may not be the greatest guy around, but I�m better than that. Those were your old man�s, yo; you should have �em.�

�Thanks,� Lae placed the folded goggles in his inside jacket pocket, and then looked at his little brother again. �You are a pretty good guy, you know�better than I�ll ever be. Maybe it�s a good thing I wasn�t around to screw you up.�

�Or maybe if you�d stuck around I woulda stopped you from screwin� up somehow,� countered Reno before shrugging lightly; �Doesn�t matter much now, yo. There�s nothing to be done about it.�

�Yeah,� the green-eyed man nodded, then frowned, �But�that voice said I broke something in you when I broke my promise. I know I can�t change that, but I want to fix it. Will you at least let me try, Kiddo?�

The younger man sighed before turning around to face his brother again. �I don�t need to be fixed, yo; I�m not broken. What I needed from you, you already gave me. We�re good, all right? As good as we can be anyway. Do whatever you want from here.�

Lae frowned, and searched his little brother�s face, but found no sign of a lie. In fact, the younger man�s posture, expression, and tone seemed to have the lost tension he had held in Lae�s presence since the time he returned. �What do you mean? I didn�t do a damned thing for you.�

�I didn�t need you to do anything.� Reno slipped his hands into his trouser pockets and tilted his head slightly; �I just needed to know that it was okay to move on. That it wouldn�t mean I was abandonin� you��

��The way I abandoned you,� finished Lae when Reno stopped speaking. The shorter redhead nodded with another small shrug, as though it were no big deal. The elder shook his head and took the last drag out of his cigarette before flicking the butt into a nearby ashtray. �Man, I don�t know what the fuck�s happened with you since I�ve been gone, but I think you grew up more than thirteen years should allow, Kiddo.�

�Maybe we both did,� Reno said quietly before speaking up a little, �Good luck findin� whatever it is your heart�s missin�.� Blue eyes glanced toward the bedside table, and Lae followed their gaze until his own landed on a cell phone lying by the lamp. He glanced back at Reno; �I won�t hold it against you if you never use it. I just wanted you to know that you could ask for help if you need it, yo.�

With a nod of farewell that felt finite, Reno turned and left the room.

Lae stared at the door for a few minutes afterwards. While it was clear that there had been some degree of contentment between him and his brother now, it was also clear to him that Reno was not entirely comfortable with him yet, and he certainly did not trust him with his heart. The fact that he made sure to never allow any physical contact, even when he passed Lae the goggles, told the elder that much. He supposed he had received more than he had a right to expect though.

The green-eyed man glanced at the cell phone his brother had left him and then walked the few feet toward the bedside table to pick it up. He easily flipped it open and turned it on, quickly finding that some numbers had been programmed into the phone�s memory. There were a few numbers that were simply useful to have, such as an order-in restaurant and a cab service, as well as a few private numbers.

Reno-home

Reno-cell (emergency only)

Rude-cell (I better be dyin)

Lae felt a strange pull in his chest. He knew he did not deserve Reno�s love any more, but he was glad he still had it.

Green eyes widened as he suddenly realised what his heart was missing to be complete. It was so obvious, so simple, and so bloody Kingdom Hearts that the redhead could not help but roll his eyes once the concept settled in his mind.

�Love�you gotta be fuckin� kidding me.�

Yet, he knew that was it. In order to live the life that he had since he left Reno, he had to close off his heart. He had not believed that he could handle the lifestyle he had chosen if he continued to feel, so he had given up his heart long before the Heartless ever stole it.

�And in order to do so, he had given up his baby brother.

The same little brother who managed to successfully lead the life of a Turk and still love his bastard big brother, as well as his lover, and even his boss, comrades, and his actual bastard big brother.

The redhead quickly scrolled down to Reno�s home number and hit �send�.

Rude answered just after the second ring. �Yes?� His tone made it clear that Lae was still far from one of his favourite people and the green-eyed man could not help but cringe a little.

�Uh, hey�Reno just left.� It was all he could think of to say at the moment. He made a mental note to think through what he wanted to say before speaking to his brother�s brawny lover in the future. Assuming that avoiding the man entirely was not a viable option.

�I know; I�ve got him on my

�Oh,� Lae ran a hand through his hair and wondered if the man would notice if he lit up while speaking to him. After the past few days, he decided it was worth the risk. His next words were slightly muffled by the cigarette in his mouth; �Is he okay?�

�He will be.� Again, the brawny Turk�s tone supplemented nothing to his response, until it took on a steely note as he added, �Give him some time.�

The redhead sighed, �I know�I will. Don�t worry; I�m not going to give you any reason to take me out.�

�Good. Unless there�s something else, I�m going back to Reno now.�

Lae released a breath that was almost a laugh. �Yeah�thanks. I know you�ll take care of him.�

There was a grunt that the redhead assumed was meant to be an acknowledgement. He expected Rude to hang up directly afterwards, but the burly man surprised him by speaking, �Just don�t disappear on him again. You want to leave, that�s fine, but be a man about it.�

�I will�but I don�t plan on leaving him like that ever again.�

�You didn�t plan it the last time,� Rude responded levelly. ��Night�

There was a soft click, but Lae did not register that the other man had hung up until he heard the dial tone take over. He closed the cell and dropped it on the bedside table before taking a deep drag from his cigarette and pulling his recently returned goggles from his pocket.

Fuck, Kiddo, it would�ve been easier if you�d just yelled at me. �Guess I deserve you making me work for it�

The redhead smirked and put out his cigarette before setting his alarm for work the next day.
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Lae to Waste