Epilogue

"We still haven't seen or heard from him." Elena sat at the table across from Yuffie. It had been three weeks since the A.E.C. incident and they were still cleaning up the mess. All the trouble had incited people to worry about the possibility of Shin-ra returning to its old roots somewhere down the road. In his own way, Reeve was one of the biggest victims of Alexander in the end anyway.

Rude stood off to the side. "He'll turn up when he feels like it," the women looked at him. "Reno's like that."

Yuffie looked out the window at the dusk settling over Wutai. "I know, but I'm still worried."

Elena shared her look of concern. "I know, and Tseng is still out there. Somewhere," All three of them had been there when Tifa recounted what Howari had said to her, and all three had been there when they spoke to the doctor themselves. But they still didn't know what to think.

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Reno stood over his grave over looking Wutai. It was still unsettling to him, but only a little bit. He was waiting. He wanted to go home, but he needed to wait. There was one last thing to settle. As he toed the marker at his feet, he couldn't but think back on the part of his life that had been at the front of his mind for the last three weeks.

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"I want to kill something."

Rude looked away from his still smiling partner. He knew that he had slowly been distancing himself from Reno. Rude had no qualms or regrets about the killing he had done, he knew that it was necessary for his own survival. But to enjoy it. That crossed the line from professionalism to psychotic.

"You don't look so good," Reno practically hopped across the room and stared at the larger man. Then he pulled out his switchblade. "Want doctor to take a look?"

Rude shoved him away and adjusted his tie. Then he walked out of the room.

Tseng was sitting at his desk when Rude came in. He held up his hand. "I know what you're going to say Rude," he motioned for the other Turk to sit down. He did not. "But there's nothing we can do about it."

"We can kill him."

Tseng's head shot up in surprise. "What?" he immediately composed himself. "You want to put him down..." Tseng began to understand. "Like a dog, because the Reno we know would never want to live like this."

Rude nodded.

"Shin-ra would never let us get away with it though," Tseng stood up and began to think out loud. This was one possibility he hadn't thought through yet. Thought all the way through at least. "After he told Heidigger Reno wasn't to be touched, there was no way around it. He hates to contradict himself." Tseng held his chin in though, his face looking down. "But if... yes, yes, that would work. We could do this."

"Are there any other options?" Rude asked from behind his sunglasses.

Tseng looked pained for a moment. "You know the treatment can't be reversed, you were there for Hojo's meeting. It's the same reason why I was able to get us out of it. The hold is too strong once it's been introduced into the body."

Rude shrugged. He knew that he had given up on that too.

"Alright," Tseng spoke, looking up at his friend. "It will take time to put a plan together. I'll deal with it after I take care of something with Aeris."

"The Ancient?" Rude clarified. "That business again?"

"Right. Except it seems like she's hooked up with another member of SOLDIER. An ex-member. The one you're supposed to find actually."

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"You're too late," Reno looked over at the mix of anger and horror on the faces of Tifa, Barrett and Cloud. "Once I push this button..."

"What's he doing?" the pilot yelled over the roar of the airship.

Tseng watched as a part of Reno hesitated. It was only for a moment, but it was there. "He's fighting it."

Inside of the earpiece in Reno's right ear, Heidigger's voice rang out loud and clear to Reno and Reno alone. "What are you doing, street rat?" he yelled. "Push the button. Push it!"

Reno watched as his hand slammed down on the final button. "That's all folks! Mission accomplished." Reno's brain lit up and his stomach felt like it was rolling over. As he fought with the pain, he barely heard Tifa's panicked voice ring out.

"We have to disarm it! Cloud! Barrett! Please!"

Reno felt himself slipping away again as he remembered his orders. "I can't have you do that." He pulled out his EMR and pushed the pain in his head away. "No one gets in the way of Reno and the Turks..."

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"Is he alright?" Tseng asked the doctor, looking down at Reno. A sword wound in his left arm was still struggling to knit itself back together again, even with the help of a cure spell.

"Physically, he's fine," the doctor paused. "Well, as physically fine as you can be after taking a beating. But he's gotten up from worse than this."

Below them on the stretcher, Reno began to mumble and groan. "Seven... Seven... Sec... Sector Seven."

"What's he saying?" the doctor looked over at Tseng with a confused stare.

Tseng was fighting with mixed feelings. He knew that his friend would have pain and torment to deal with for the rest of his life. Despair and regret. These would never go away, not after this. But in the end Tseng smiled. Not because his friend was in pain, but because the pain was there, written clearly on his face.

"He's having a nightmare."

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"Hello Reno."

'Shit,' Reno thought. He hadn't heard him show up. "Hey boss," he said as he turned around to face Tseng. "It's not like you to be late. I've been waiting here for three weeks now."

Tseng smiled slightly. "Sorry, I was sorting some things out."

Reno smiled too. "You look like shit."

Tseng's skin had lost most of its colour and was starting to peel. "You still don't know how to tie a tie."

"Good point," Reno's smile slid into a smirk. "You're here for a reason, huh?"

Tseng stopped smiling altogether. "You know I am. Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"Are you sure about this?" Reno asked, his own mouth becoming a thin line as his eyes dropped. He didn't want to look at him anymore. "Wouldn't you rather be with Kaylynn? Or Rude? Elena?"

"You know exactly why you're here. I know exactly why you're here. We've both thought this through, haven't we?"

"Bull shit, I never think things through."

"Reno…" Tseng hesitated, looking for the words. "They wouldn't understand."

"Don't worry about it, boss. It's the least I can do. I'm just sorry that there isn't another option. Like there was for me."

Tseng walked over to look down at the marker that held his name. "You all have done real well. I'm honoured to have had you as colleagues."

The fire-red haired man clapped a hand on his companion's shoulder. "We're honoured to have you as a friend."

Tseng knelt down in front of the marker, suddenly looking very exhausted.

Reno stepped back and pulled out his gun.