Tried to Speak

So diligently I tried to speak as I watched through tinted lenses as the company lowered the empty casket into the ground. They hadn't been able to find anything of my partner, not a single strand of red, not a tatter of a dark suit; absolutely nothing. And so we lowered the casket that cradled no body protectively in its embrace down into the ground.

And I waited till the rest of the group left to let my tears fall, while I kissed the soft petals of a flower that reminded me of your soft lips, in a weak attempt to gain one last taste of you, one last feel of your love pressing into me. But though the flower felt as soft as your lips it wasn't what I wanted. I wanted you back with me, wanted you by my side whole, hearty and safe. But I would never get my wish for the life stream had taken you away. So I bade you not a good bye, but a wish to see you soon. For there was no way I was going to stay here with you waiting for me in the life stream. No this was just a bump in our path of being together, of being partners, there was no way I wasn't going to be beside you, even in death.

No I just had one final thing to do in life, and that was revenge. I would find those who took you from me before joining you. So I sighed and lowered my head before sending the flower on top of your casket. Soon my own would be laying beside it, buried in the ground side by side as we should have been in taking that final blow, that final hit. But the company decided that that job was a one man job, but look at its mistake. I turned, head bowed low and walked away while the funeral director and his men started to cover your casket in dirt.

Soon my Fire-bird, soon I will be with you; as I should have been, as I will always be.

So diligently did I try to speak ‘till I remembered that I never had to speak aloud for you to hear my words, you could always read me better than anyone. Even Tseng, who knew me longer. And I bet Tseng thinks I am just going to go out for revenge before continuing on in life, not following you into death to be by your side.

But revenge is just an instant gratification, nothing long lasting like the happiness and love you gave me. Revenge wouldn’t give your death justice, in a way I think it would cheapen it, for you gave your life courageously and with the spirit of fire I know your small slim body housed. You were truly the fire-bird my love; your soul an inferno of passion, ever flickering, never dying ‘till that final hit was felt. And I hope the gods were kind to you, taking your body before you felt that sharp pain, before you had to die alone like we had promised never to do. We had sworn to dye side by side, hand in hand; in the knowledge that the company always sent us in pairs and we were partners.

Hind sight is a bitch, my fire-bird, my partner. And you had to die alone, and so I do hope the gods took your body and embraced it in the life stream before you felt that pain. It would make not having one last kiss in this mortal realm worth it for that knowledge.

~~~~

In the end, the people who took you from me were idiots, having chosen to hide from me and Shinra not too far away from where your mission had killed you. And it didn’t take me long to get what I needed to get my revenge and then join you. It took me less then a week to get all the intell that I needed to make this work and kill them all, all in your name, all for you.

For all that they left me with nothing left of you, I wanted to paint the walls with their blood, make them pay for what they took from me, even as I planned to join you soon.

So I snuck into the warehouse they had holed themselves up in, keeping to the shadows easily, Leviathan was by my side this night. The first few rooms were empty of anything except heavy crates. But as I crept down the halls I could hear cheering and sneers, harsh cruel words were flung about with ease. And it hurt me to think that these assholes were able to get their hands on another soul to torture and take away from loved ones. Not a trace to be found for condolences.

The door to the back room was open just a crack and I glanced in to get my baring and count how many I got to kill in the name of my vengeance. At first glance I counted fifteen men standing and sitting in a circle, with four with in the middle. At the second glance I double counted nineteen men for me too kill and one man, judging from the moan and yelp of pain as he was beaten, to save. The man I had to save would be a hassle as well as a distraction before I took my own end.

It was on my third glance that I got to see what the victim looked like, he was pale and thin, bruises littered his naked flesh. The mottled colorations, as well as the faded shadows of previous bruising led me to believe he had been their prisoner for a while. The boy, for I could call him nothing else, judging by how scrawny he was, was curled up tightly as the men rained down kicks and punches to his vulnerable flesh.

So I sat there in the dark corridor calculating and forming a plan to get the hostage out of there with little to no more scraps and bruises then he already had. He had suffered enough, and I just hope my Fire-bird hadn't suffered as he had. It was going to be hard if I went at them while they were all in the back room with him still in there and only me to take them down. So I would have to draw them out a few at a time and take them out that way. Which I didn't mind, it meant I got a chance to spill their blood anyways.

So I crept back down the hall keeping my ears open for any other sound, but none came except the still going on crows of the men who were beating the hostage.

I watched the back room’s door waiting for my hastily made sound bomb to go off. The bomb wasn’t all that powerful, not that I needed it to be, I just needed it to be able to reset and grab some attention.

When the bomb went off all sound from the back room went silent till the leader ordered a few boys to investigate.

Staying in the shadows, I watched as two men came out to find the source of the noise. I fallowed them into a more deserted part of the ware house before taking them out. I didn’t want to use my hands or guns, I wanted their blood first, I wanted there blood all over me and the walls. I would get even more physical later, when I got to the leader and those who had killed my Fire-bird. But these men were not worth that effort, they were like me following orders but still they would die and I wouldn’t even feel guilty about it.

My knives slid into there bodies, like a hot knife through butter. Their screams were cut short as I severed their carotid artery and the vocal cords, showering the walls with their blood. I didn’t blink as some blood splattered my face and suit, though blood was a hassle to get out of fabric it wasn’t impossible and I liked the idea of wearing their blood as a badge of strength when I went after the Leader.

Blood and gore had never bothered either Reno or myself. To some extent both of us got off on our work, the interrogations, the savagery and force needed to break others to their will. Not that they minded it just made their love-making hotter and Reno’s submission all the more sweet.

I headed quickly back to where my bomb was hidden to reset it, to get more of the men. Like a spider fixing her web to catch the flies over and over again.

Going back to watching the back door to get the next set of men was easy all I had to do was wait and ‘till they came to search for the ruckus. I didn’t care about anything else but avenging the death of my lover.

And so it continued: wheedling the numbers of the men down untill they stopped coming out, too scared to enter the dark halls where their friends hadn’t returned from.

So I crept forwards to see how many were left, making sure my mental calculations were right. There were only nine left to kill. While the boy was curled up on himself, the leader was too bored and unsure to beat him any more. I could hear the boy murmuring something but I couldn’t make out what exactly he was saying.

Keeping to the shadows I pulled out my gun and aimed and in quick succession I kill three men with bullets to the head, smirking as they jerk and fall back, blood leaking out of the small hole in the front while the backs of their heads blew off completely. Blood, bone and brains showered the walls and the naked hostage who just twitched before stilling once more. Concussion and multiple broken bones, judging from the bumps under his skin and the amount of discolorations.

I watched as the other six men jerk and look around while screaming at one another. Even the leader was glancing around while keeping silent. I shift and shoot two more men while keeping my place, just watching them fall before deciding now was the time to come out of the shadows.
By then only the four that had been beating the hostage were left. Smirking I enter the room covered in dried and drying blood of their fellows. I watched as some of them flitch and back away while the Leader tilts his head up and frowns at the sight of me.

“Who the fuck are you?” he demands, his brown eyes flashing angrily as he crosses his arms. But I have not reason to answer him while shifting on my feet to rush two of the other men taking them down with just the power of my fists and body. It’s amusing how much faster and stronger I am compared to them and it made me wonder how they could get one up on my lover who was faster then me, wiry and quick like a fox.

I continued to beat them until blood coated my hands and they stayed down before concentrating on the other guy, while leaving the leader for last. He is the man I will enjoy killing the most. The third man had stayed still, stunned and staring at the crushed faces of his friends.

It wasn’t ‘till the first punch hit home, in the blonde’s stomach that he started to fight back. But like the others he went down a bloody broken mess, jaw dislocated, the side of his skull broken in, one eye missing, countess broken bones. They would all fall beneath my vengeance and fury, for these mother-fuckers took away my partner and they will feel every ounce of my anger in the breaking of their bones. I turn to the stunned and pale looking Leader, silent at the destruction of his pals, the blood and brains all around the room and coating him.

“Your next.” Was all I growled as I rushed forward and wraped a hand around the man’s throat, squeezing as I pushed the man further away from the hostage. The man’s hands come up to scratch up at my face, trying to get at my shades, but I lifted my head to keep them on. Pushing the man away, I launched forward to slam the man into a wall before pounding into him with my fists.

It didn’t take long to kill the man, since the back of his head was continually battered against the concrete wall. Stepping back I watched as the lifeless body slid down the wall, brown eyes staring straight ahead.

“Lev…Leviathan?” Came a strangled, hoarse calling of the hostage. But the sound of that voice combined with the name made my head snap up faster then anything else. Only one man called me by that name, only one man, and he was dead. Whirling around, I stare at the huddled, battered form of the boy. It wasn’t ‘till he tossed his head up slightly to look around that I saw the flash of blood-red hair. I could feel my eyes widening behind their protective shades at the sight of the bruised distorted features of my lover, my Fire-bird.

He was alive.

Alive and whole, even if he wasn’t healthy. It was more than I could have ever hoped for, or even dream off. My Aibou was alive and I had a chance this night to keep him that way and to have him back in my arms where he was supposed to be. Reno was never meant to be left to the torture of these men’s hands. No, if Reno was to be tortured it was to be at my hands and only in pleasure.

“Phoenix.” I rasp out as I stumble over to him, falling to my knees to lift his head softly to look into his mako-enhanced eyes. But the usually bright blue fire that flickered there was dull and almost lifeless. It hurt to even know that I was too late to guard my Aibou from this, but I knew I wouldn’t have been able to stop it, since I had thought he was dead.

I reached into my inner breast pocket to get my phone out and call Tseng. Both Rufus and Tseng deserved to know Reno was alive, and that the mission had been completed. But that again brought to my knowledge, how they got the one-up on my lover. I kept the phone call short, only to tell Tseng that Reno was alive and to get an ambulance over here immediately. Once the phone was shut I hesitate on how to best comfort my Aibou, my lover.

Laying down beside the battered and beaten form of my partner I press a comforting kiss to the red-head’s forehead while I waits for the ambulance, Tseng and Elena to come, as I knew they would, my mind was full of thoughts of the red-head in my gentle arms.

Reno never knew I called him Aibou, it was my secret nickname for him, it was my name for our bond; and my hope that in the future we would wed. For then we would truly be partners for life.

“Levi…” Reno whispers once more eyes fluttering before they roll back into his head, his whole body going limp.

“Reno.” I gasp before reaching out to feel the pulse beat of my lover, only to find it weak and inconsistent. “Please Leviathan protect him as well as you can, help is on its way.” I pray softly as I reach out to stroke the greasy strands of Reno’s hair.

It was weeks later that my Reno was allowed out of the hospital and back to our home. I wasn’t going to let this be a lesson ignored, I already had supper on the table with candles and soft music. Elena was bringing Reno home, much to his disappointment, but I wanted to get this right. Reno deserved it after everything he and I went through.

So I hid in the back room as Elena got Reno settled at the table before leaving him and our house. I came out then, to cover my lover’s eyes with a large hand.

"Rude?" Reno asked softly, as he stays still and relaxed in my arms waiting for my reply patiently, knowing I would always answer him, come for him. I was his Leviathan, his partner and lover. I would never leave him hanging for anything.

“I have something to ask you Reno but I am nervous, so please bear with me.” I say softly before letting my hand drop and moving to sit beside the smaller man, who was watching me with his blue cat eyes. I couldn’t help but stare at him, the bruises were gone and many of his bones were mended thanks to multiple doses of healing materia.

Reno tilted his head before reaching out to take off my shades, he was the only person who was aloud to do so. I blinked as the soft light of the candles hit my sensitive eyes.

“You can ask me anything… you know that Rude.” Reno says softly as his one hand caresses my cheek and I lean into it. “Its good to see your eyes again, and I know you don’t like them ‘cause they remind you of your dad, But they are a part of you and they are beautiful.” He says while looking into my green eyes. And as I heard that I couldn’t put off asking him anymore, I had to ask him now right this second.

“Reno, my phoenix. Will you marry me and become my Aibou?” I ask quickly the words falling over themselves in my rush to get them out, no matter how nervous I was at asking him.

I watch as he blinks before smiling that bright devil-may-care smile as his eyes light up and the fire inside them all but becomes an inferno. It seems to me that he doesn’t even give it a second thought before he answers me.

“Yes.” was all he said before he lunges at me and wraps his arms around my shoulders pressing to me as tight as he could.

And again I was reminded as I tried to speak and he peppered kisses all over my face and throat, that I didn’t need to speak for him to understand what I wanted to say. For Reno was a part of me, my Aibou; the Phoenix to my Leviathan.