A New Page in History

Rufus Shinra looked upon the only woman he had ever loved, sprawled out beneath him looking wanton. She was as dirty as she had ever been, in fact in all his life he could never remember anyone commenting on, or even suggesting that she was clean. That would take a miracle, ridden with disease and nowhere near her former glory. This was his second try with her, a face lift and more secrets than she had held previously, more problems too, but he still loved her.

Standing at the window of his ivory tower he looked out at Midgar sprawled below him and couldn’t help the smile that curled at his lips. After meteor, after Kadaj, and after only the tatters of Avalanche remained, settled and calm had he made his move. See staying in the shadows had its advantages. But what you have to remember is that shadows don’t remain shadows forever, it’s when the sun moves and thrusts you into the spotlight that you have to make your move and strike at the fleshy underside of the beast.
Flicking away an imaginary bit of lint off a pressed white cuff he glanced at the city below with one last thought of contempt. It had turned him into his father. When he had realised this it had been too late, and even his most loyal had fallen.
The new enemy now was the people, and they were capable of being more trouble than a 1000 Avalanches so it seemed.

Walking away from the immense glass windows back through his suite to a highly polished desk where there sat only one lamp and an open laptop. He spared a glance to the shock of red hair on his white sofa, creating a bastardised impression of the very logo that adorned the outer walls of the building. He assumed his guard to be asleep. 32 hour days took their toll on people, even those trained struggled with them on occasion. That and none of them were as young as they had used to be.
Sitting behind the lap top and pulling on a pair of thin glasses from the inner pocket of his white jacket he cast it off and onto the back of his chair. It was scarcely 10pm and he still had paperwork to do, days never close early when your company is slowly but surely gaining control of the world in some way or another.
You never get anything for free, this had been no exception. As deft slender fingers pounded out both orders and requests into the machines keyboard, Rufus’ mind wandered to those now dearly departed. There were a million faces amongst them that had left no lasting impression, and then two that reoccurred in his memory on a daily basis.
Rude.
Tseng.

As far as he was concerned they had been the company losses. Out of his faithful only two remained, one of which was asleep on the couch, the other was training, scouting for new Turk’s and even she had started to lose her charm. Bright blue eyes were duller and harder as more and more was taken out of her on a daily basis. Not everyone can smile forever. It’s impossible. The spunky new ‘Rookie’ had learnt it the hard way when she and Rude had pulled Reno and Tseng out of the helicopter wreckage.
Reno had been barely alive; and Tseng a long time cold. From the speed they had hit the water after machinery malfunction it was amazing that either of them had been alive. There had he lost not only his best friend and confidant, but his first lover too. No one would ever fill that gap and Rufus had been angry brash and violent for months afterwards. The team of mechanics that had prepped the helicopter had admitted after extensive ‘persuasion’ by Rude that the helicopters had been rigged to explode mid flight but it hadn’t worked and had instead just shut off the rotary blades.
As a reward for revealing such information Rufus dismissed Rude and brought in the still injured Reno. Wounds tended to he stood tall next to Rufus and awaited his orders. He was now the top dog, Rude having been governing a position within the company he was more comfortable with.

Rufus remembered the fire blazing in Reno’s eyes at the act as he saw the three men standing in front of him. Chained to their seats in a crude and uncomfortable position, Rufus hadn’t said a word to him before the fiery red heads temper had kicked in as one of the men, with a decidedly appalling aim made to spit at him and instead Rufus found the sensation of warm thick saliva rolling down his cheek. It had taken all of six seconds for Reno to be astride the final breathing man, the culprit of the projectile.
Wiping his face Rufus watched with an expressionless face as he saw just what his Turks had become. This was Reno, fun loving, not often sober, never dressed in full uniform, and never one to follow orders to the letter. This was the same Reno doing what he did best. He had been off the scale in all psychological reports since he had been hired, the best doctors not able to decide if he was insane or just a truly unknown entity.
It wasn’t however the red hair that caught his attention then as Reno’s lips hovered inches over the offending man in questions’, it was the red that covered Reno’s hand from the short small knife that was plunged under the stomach of the gasping squirming man as Reno sat astride him.
His words were liquid and deadly at the same time “I’ve never buried a friend, but I’m a pro at burying bodies in places where they will never be found. You know a stab wound in the belly bleeds for days before you die. Hey I thought I’d kinda like you if you were a Turk, you have potential, you can sabotage and disrespect along with the rest of us but you obviously are too thick to know when you are far out of your depth with shit. You don’t fuck with me, or anyone I happen to be gracing the presence of” With that he tore open the front of the mans shirt and pulling the knife out of the soft stomach tissue it had been inside. Rufus wanted to retch at the sight of so much blood but watched Reno as he with what could be only a practiced skill, carve the Shinra logo onto the mans chest deep as he screamed.

The door behind them opened as Rude and Elena entered. Scowling at the intrusion but fascinated as he watched them work in a way that needed no communication. Sliding off the lap of the breathing screaming man Rufus watched the badly injured Reno cast his pain aside and nod to the other two Turks in the room. “Do what you want but make sure he is alive when you put him in that box” His tone sported a smirk that made Rufus go cold. They were burying him alive and enjoying it.
“Sir…” Reno started eyes downcast as he faced Rufus. The first submissive look Rufus had ever seen on Reno’s face and he hated it, crooking a finger none too gently under the bruised Turks jaw he jerked Reno’s head up until their eyes met. “What?” He asked none too gently. “If you’d like to go back to your rooms I’m sure Rude and Elena will see that this is finished” Nodding and turning on a heel towards the door he heard two gun shots and a groan, followed by a chilling laugh off Elena. He laughed inaudibly to himself as Reno’s undoubtedly blood covered hand pushed into the small of his back to keep him moving through the door.
Sometimes it is best not to know just how monstrous those closest are to you. Elena had lost something akin to Rufus. Rude and Reno lost the only father figure either of them had ever known.

It was then that Rufus pulled up the statistics of one of the longest serving men under his command. The stoic picture that filled his computer screen hid the true Enigma of the man.
Rude could fill a doorway and clear a room without saying a word. Brash and crude with the few words he said, many thought him to be anti social or even shy. To be frank he was neither. He was a man of very many words when you learnt to extricate the true meaning of what he did say. A lot of his mystery lay in the things he didn’t say. But he was still a machine of true power and exquisite craftsmanship.
He had been very young and still hiding in the shadow of his father the day Rude had been dragged into the office. Four SOLDIER grasping onto him he had watched a young sharp eyed Tseng stride up to him and look the heaving man in the eye while his father hid behind his desk, the obvious look of uncertainness on his features blatantly questioned just ‘what’ had been brought into his office.

“Ah you remember me don’t you-“Rufus’ memory was unable to remember the name Tseng had called him due to being accustomed to calling him Rude for so many years. The struggling man had ceased his movements immediately, the panting SOLDIER seeming more than relieved at the temporary respite. Extracting a pair of sunglasses from the fore most SOLDIER’ top pocket Tseng approached the heaving bulk of muscle that had been Rude at about 19. Placing them into the open palm of the waiting man Rufus had almost sulked at seeing the blazing blue eyes covered up, though Rude’s demeanour had relaxed immediately.
“I want something in return for my generosity of relieving you from your less than favourable situation.” Tseng had added. It was a request that Rufus would hear often over his duration with Tseng. A colourful line that sat well on the mans tongue.
“What?” A voice that resembled a clap of thunder had asked. It sounded both too loud and too strong to come from someone so young. “Your life” Tseng had stated calmly. There had been no struggle with Rude’s enlisting and he had turned out to be one of the best Turk’s in history, the one to coin the now widely used phrase ‘The only retired Turk is a dead Turk’. Though few would believe that scrap of information.

So it was with a heavy and regretful sigh that Rufus entered KIA onto Rude’s profile. Leaning back in his chair he ran a pale hand through his hair and looked over to Reno as he lay there on the sofa on his back, uniform as scruffy as ever but he now bore more marks of battle than what suited him. the scar from the top of his collar bone that tapered off just above his navel at a 45 degree angle had been the wound sustained covering his partner on a defence that had been in Rufus’ name and lead to the demise of one of the finest Turks and men he had ever known. It had been outside this very office as Rufus slept; only to awake with a start at the sound of gunshots and Reno yanking off the bedcovers, throwing him both a gown and his shot gun.
“Get moving into the back and stay there boss” his face was already splattered with blood as he ventured back out into the office and through the main doors as the sounds of fights and bullets grew louder, Rufus dressed. Making a gesture out of habit to call Dark Nation to his side, scolding himself on his sentimentality when no warmth appeared under his hand, Old habits die hard.

He had been standing nonchalantly in the doorway to his rooms, shotgun at his side, convinced that his Turks wouldn’t fail him when suddenly there was a bout of silence that went on for entirely too long. There was a cry of rage and the light on his desk flickered off and then on again. After that it was all silent. Taking in a deep breath and for the first time since he looked out to the sight of Weapon Rufus felt fear. Only to go on to be confirmed as Elena ran through the door her blonde hair and white blouse covered in blood the gun in her hand, chamber exposed and still warm as she tossed it to the floor stripping off her shirt eyes wide as she pointed to the panic button under the desk.
“Sir it’s Rude we need help” Her voice was high pitched as she ran back out into the hall clad in only her trousers and bra pressing both her and Reno’s wadded up shirts to Rude’s chest. The giant man lay on his back but still conscious as Rufus pushed the button and headed towards the hall. Fourteen corpses littered the hallway that was swimming in blood as he was drawn to the erratic rise and fall of Rude’s chest.
“See man, I told ya I’d be getting’ a look at ‘lenas chest one day” Reno laughed in jest applying pressure to the wounds that bled heaviest. A chuckle came from the man beneath him though it was forced as although they thought they flew beneath the radar, only a fool would think that there wasn’t something going on between Reno and Rude.

A shaky hand slid blood splattered sunglasses down his nose as he rolled his startlingly blue eyes back to look at Rufus. “Is the young president alright sir?” Rude asked making them all look at him sideways as the medical team started their run up the corridor. Soon the bustle around them was noisy as hell and you couldn’t hear yourself think straight.
It was the first of many things that Rude wouldn’t come to understand he had said. Rufus spent a fortnight watching him downsize and degrade Reno as the brain trauma affected his memory. The bullet that had migrated into his brain was apparently pressing on nerves making him see and remember things from other times and wrong places.
It had been the one night when Rufus had ventured down to the medical suite to see Reno smoking as he sat at Rude’s bedside. There was a bottle of bourbon in his hand and Rufus could see that he was well past drunk.
“Your just a two dollar whore y’know Re… your no better than you used to be Tseng, Giving head like a woman there’s no love worthless” The contempt that Rude held in his voice as he spat these words at Reno was astonishing. Watching the Red head take a harsh swallow of hard liquor as he stubbed the cigarette out on his boot and stood to offer Rufus his seat with a sway.

“Feelin’ like getting’ abused today? you’re in the right place” Swaggering over to the end of the bed Rufus could see in the dim light, the wet trails of tears that had been escaping down Reno’s cheeks in his time alone.
“If he starts throwin’ shit at people again Boss I’ll be outside the door.” With a silent nod Reno closed the door and Rufus looked around the room. The make shift nest of old clothes and hospital blankets beside the bed made it obvious that Reno hadn’t left the building since Rude had been taken in to the room. What lay in the hospital bed looked like Rude but what he said was wrong. His voice sounded different, his eyes still held that unnatural hue of blue The sprawling blue dragon was still there under the hospital gown, though how damaged it was he didn’t know.
“Is the young president ok?” Rude had asked in the quietest voice he had ever heard on the man and Rufus nodded, a little disturbed that he was seen as his father. “A little shaken, but he thanks you for everything you did in his defence” There was a sigh and then a laugh as Rude shook his head staring up at the ceiling. “Reno was at the door first, said something was up I thought he was just pissin’ about. Said he heard something in the ceiling. Thought he was high again… Good man good man” That sounded like sense from him as the eyes, now looking tired and cloudy looked back at Rufus and remained locked on his until Reno came back into the room. Rude had spent a fortnight like this since the doctors gave him the vote of no hope. So to see the silenced gun in Reno’s hand didn’t surprise him to see the least.
In fact he felt that he was intruding on a private moment, though he was honoured that he was allowed to remain through the duration of the action.

Trademark goggles atop his head keeping his hair off his wet face Reno pushed the sunglasses back up Rude’s nose turning the man to look at him sharing a rare smile with him before he spoke. “You know I love you right?” He said softly. Rufus hoped that for one moment, For Reno’s sake that Rude would be clear. “Of course I do, you know I do too Re…” Reno nodded and slipped the cold barrel of the gun under Rude pressing it into the back of his neck. From where he sat Rufus could see Rude close his eyes for a moment, flicking them open briefly as Reno kissed him. A series of soft slow kisses gaining in momentum like he had had many a time with Tseng when they had been decidedly alone enough to let their guard down.
Rufus took some pride in the fact that he was the first and last to see Reno and Rude so relaxed and true together. It was with a chaste kiss that the dulled ‘thwump’ of a bullet into the spine sounded, and a final jerk with a restful smile that the heart monitor flat lined moments later. Reno rested for a moment before removing his lips from the cooling ones of Rude, wrenching the electronic machines cable out of the wall and over into the darkness. Upon leaving the room Rufus had been startled to find his own face wet at the loss of yet not only another employee but a friend also,

That had been 18 months ago and the burial for Rude had been fantastic. It had been out at Cosmo Canyon as Reno insisted it was where Rude had spent the better part of his childhood even though there had never been any records written about this, Rufus had taken his word and done the works. The two rings that Reno now wore on his hands were his and Rude’s. Plain silver bands of a semi precious metal Rufus had never noticed them before but he realised they were as close to wedding bands as were allowed. He had been ignorant to them all along. It would be on the occasional day where he would catch Reno bereft of goggles and sitting looking out over Midgar from the east facing roof and wearing a worn beaten up pair of Rude’s glasses. Some people found peace in such actions. Rufus knew that it was Reno’s way of tormenting and blaming himself whilst he ran through 1000 ‘What-if’s’ in his head.