What the Turk Dragged in : Chapter Five

Reno Spiegel and Drakonlily

At the boat, there had only been two rooms left.  Leaving Rude and Elena to have one to themselves, Cloud and Reno were alone in the other.  Cloud hadn't spoken to Reno, amd the redhead was also eerily quiet.  They would look at each other on occasion, then both look back up at the ceiling of the room.

Eventually, Reno ventured into conversation. "...What're your plans when we hit Kalm?"

"I don't know," Cloud responded.  He sounded like he was going to face a firing squad.

Reno was still wearing his suit, he noticed, and fished around in the inside pocket. Pulling out a dirty pack of smokes whose package proclaimed Seven Star Box -- there was one left; there had been for years -- he tossed it onto the floor and went back to staring at the ceiling. "Gonna find AVALANCHE, you think?"

"Maybe Tifa. I don't think I want to stay around with them.  I just want them to know I'm alive, I guess."  He sighed.  "What are you going to do?"

"Run in the ruts where loyalties lie," he muttered. "Gonna stick around with 'Lena and Rude until I'm back on my feet, maybe cut back on the gambling...hell, I might stay there until I'm old and grey."

"Well, good luck," Cloud responded.

Reno looked like he'd just been insulted. "Good luck?" he repeated.

"Yeah, you said what you were going to do. I wished you luck.  Something wrong with that?"

He didn't even reply to that, unsure what to say. Something just felt wrong with the statement. "Yeah...well...don't get yourself killed."

Cloud looked over to Reno, confused.  "Would it bother you if I did?"

Reno didn't look at him. "It would've bothered me if I'd found your bleeding corpse on the coastline. Just telling you to watch your back; Kalm's a big place, and ShinRa loyalists are still running around."

Cloud made a scoffing sound. "You know why I don't want to stay with them Reno?  Or do you just think I am being high and mighty with the lot of them?"

"To set it straight," he muttered, "I just think you're independent enough to know you can do fine on your own, but you're just unaware enough to die doing some stupid shit."

"I always knew I'd get myself killed."  Cloud laughed.  "Fuck, I don't even know how I made it this far.  Let's face it: I was a shitty hero.  But that's the damn story of my life."

"The story of your life is that you got fucked over by the wrong people, learned from your mistakes, and now you're going to give 'em hell or something. Best of luck to you." With that he rolled over, facing the wall, but didn't even try to sleep.

An hour passed before Cloud sat up, shaking his head.  He looked at the shore; the boat had docked while they were talking.  He picked up the blanket he had on, throwing it over Reno.  He grabbed his sword and headed to the door.  "Hope I catch you around, Reno," he muttered, leaving the redhead behind in the cabin.

Reno was too far gone to hear him.

***

Cloud wandered around  the streets of Kalm. He had pulled his unruly blond hair into a pony tail, and pulled the hood of his shirt up to hide his head.  It was like some surreal dream.  The Gold Saucer had always been removed from reality.  But he truly preferred it to seeing his picture at every corner.  At a bookstore he saw the two best sellers, already before their printing: Cid's Memoirs and The Story of Nanaki.  Cloud closed his eyes.

What about Zax? What about Tseng?  What about Aeris?  No one seemed to mention that whole cities were now gone.  Some fucking hero… Damn, how he hated this.

"The story of your life is that you got fucked over by the wrong people," he had said.  But that wasn't right.  Cloud had been fucked over by the right people.  Tifa and he had never been close, he knew that when she picked him up.  But it was nice, for a while, to pretend he was her hero.  That he meant something to someone.  

Hell, his mother's last words had been, "What are you doing here?"  That was the story of his life.  He hadn't liked any of them, and they hadn't liked him.  They needed him, so he stayed.  He took out Sephiroth, and now the world wanted the heroes to parade through town.  It made Cloud sick.  He didn't stop Sephiroth because he wanted to. There wasn't exactly a line for the job.

It just had to be done.

And then Reno had lied to him.  He had been ready to stay with the guy.  All it would have taken was an "I'm sorry."  But, then again, it was Reno he was thinking about. He looked at a puddle, muttering, "Sephiroth, I fucking wish you would have won."

A mass of vans and reporters caught his eyes.  They seemed to be staked outside of a house.  Walking around to the back, he realized the place was surrounded.  That had to be where AVALANCHE was.  He would have to get them away from the damn door.  Leaning close to a van -- other gawkers were lazing about, so he didn't seem out of place -- he looked at the door.

Then his miracle came for him.  A breathless woman leapt into the van Cloud was leaning on, yelling, "I heard Cloud Strife is on a boat docked here at Kalm port!"

And like that, in an instant, Cloud Strife was alone, in favor of the Cloud Strife asleep on the boat.

"Wow, luck for me," Cloud muttered, walking up to the front door of the house and knocking.

There was a bit of shuffling and what sounded like a barricade being moved, then the door slowly opened, a wine-colored eye peeking through the crack. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Teef?"  Cloud looked over his shoulder before taking the hood down. "It's me."

This was followed by a brief pause, the eye squinting to get a better look at him, then the door sprung open and she gaped at him, not sure if she was seeing a ghost or not. She herself looked rather worn and tired, the bags under her eyes evident, but she still hadn't lost her energy. "Cloud -- you --! ...How?" she whispered.

"Can I come in before those idiots realize I hopped out of the boat?" Cloud urged.  The last thing he wanted was a romantic return of the fucking king story.

"Of course!" she breathed, stepping aside to let him in and shutting the door after him. "You...oh, Cloud..." She couldn't help it, and lunged forward to throw her arms around his neck.

Shocked at first, Cloud let himself hug her. "Hi."

"We all thought you were dead; no one we asked had seen you," she proclaimed, backing up and looking him over. "Want something to drink? You are staying for a while, right?" It was more of a plea than a question.

"No. I'm not."

She froze, actually going to get him something to drink. She turned slowly, surprised. "The night...? At least long enough to talk to everyone, right? We all missed you."

Cloud's face hardened.  "I can't deal with this Tifa.  You and I, I know what happened back when we were kids.  I -- shit, how could you just lie to me?  And then all those people, trying to peg me as a hero?  I thought you at least attempted to know me."

Tifa sat down on the stairs in front of the door slowly, looking more tired than ever as she rubber her temples. "If you'd known the truth...I was afraid you'd leave me; leave us. I tried to know you, I really did. That's why I lied, to make you stay and open up to us, maybe get rid of that defiant shell you've always got on."

Cloud sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.  "Who else would have done it Teef?  If not me?"  He shook his head. "Listen, I will stay the night; I want to explain myself to you.  If you want to hear me out."

She nodded slowly, smiling a worn smile. Despite the stress she was under lately, it was still the woman he'd fought beside for half a year. "If only that, it's good enough."

So he told her.  He told her all those things he didn't want to remember, from when he made it to SOLDIER, like he said he would.  The training.  The fact that he didn't want to continue it, so he was moved to a brigade where they could keep an eye on him.  Then he told her about Hojo.

Five goddamn years he wished he could forget.  Five years, of nothing save Zax to talk to, when either of them was capable of talking at least.   The escape from Hojo's labs, Zax's death.  Her finding him at the train station.

Then Cloud skipped ahead, to when he lost the others.  He told her about Sephiroth's death.  How he passed out, to wake up two weeks later, in Reno's apartment.   Lastly, he told her how Reno had said none of them were alive, how he hadn't bothered to check the ex-Turk on his word.  Then he told her what had happened, save the more messy details.  "I came as soon as I found out you were alive," he finished, waiting for a response.

Tifa had been shifting and walking around throughout the entire thing, and was cradling a cup of tea, Cloud with a full mug of coffee in front of him. She took a moment to fully digest the details, then shook her head. "Cloud...we've been looking for you since you disappeared...we've had every police force on the Planet out for you...how could he do that to you?"

Cloud rolled his eyes.  "Maybe because I almost cut him in half.  Hell if I know."  The hero slumped to the table. "But  I do know I need some time to myself, figure out what I want out of life... It's been over six years since I made a choice just for myself, you understand?"

She nodded. She'd been by his side since they'd gone out to fight ShinRa, and it killed her when he told her that he needed to be alone. Her words came slowly. "I understand. I understand more than I want to, I think." She laughed softly and looked up at him. "You're not coming back, are you, Cloud?"

He laughed back.  "I think I will, but I really don't know.  Just don't change your PHS number, alright?  I'll keep in touch."  He stood up and hugged her. "Don't be waiting around for me ok?  And don't tell Cid or Barret about the whole Reno thing.  I still owe him for dragging me as far as he did, so it won't do to have someone try to gut him on sight."

Tifa gave him the old smile and nodded, watching as he started toward the stairs, as the day was getting old. But she knew he'd never voluntarily walk back to her front steps and say hello. He was Cloud Strife, Mr. Independence. He'd been having his choices made for him for so long that he knew it was time to fly solo and make his own.

***

Reno, however, had been making his own choices his entire life, and his most recent one was to live with Elena and Rude, get back to some level of financial stability, and pay them back as well as he could.

Elena had a child on the way and Rude had picked up a second job to prepare, so most of the time it was just Reno and Laney, who were often mistaken as a couple instead. The redhead got her groceries, ran her errands, even found himself cleaning when she just wasn't in the mood. It was a big change, albeit welcomed.

"Re, I wanted to ask you something." She had a hand over her growing stomach.

She didn't call him Re unless something was up, so he secured the pipe with the wrench he was holding and hopped off the ladder, wiping his hands on his suit jacket.

He still insisted on wearing it.

The trademark smirk fired up. "Shoot."

"Why don't you have anybody in your life Reno?  I mean, Rude and I love you here, but, you just seem... I don't know, lonely."

That paused him. Reno'd always had a bit of an idea why, but no one had asked him up until now. He folded his arms over his chest. "Elena, you know me. I was married to the job, and now that it's gone...well, what can take the place of being a Turk?"

She sighed.  "Being a human being, maybe?"  She sat on the stairwell slowly, maneuvering with the baby growing inside her.  "You hide behind the excuse that no one understands you… but, you know, you never make it so anyone can know you.  Is Rude the only person you've ever had a serious conversation with your whole life?"

Being human wasn't a thing Reno particularly liked, nor even confessed to half the time. And he'd decided long ago that the people who knew him were the people he'd rather forget existed, and he didn't want that to happen to those he might someday care about. "'Course not. You...Tseng..." He faltered for a moment, silently adding Cloud, and sighed. "Okay, so maybe that's true," he admitted.

"And I was thinking."  She looked at the ground at Reno's feet.  "Se, he told me about the two of you." She shook her head.  "And you seemed like you were actually enjoying Cloud's company...back at your old apartment.  Is it that you are worried that Rude will be angry with you?"

Reno felt this would be the time to have that smoke, the last one in the pack of Seven Star Box cigarettes he'd demanded be given to him from Tseng's body, but he'd decided to be respectful to Elena's "condition." His own eyes shifted to the wall, tracing the cracks. "...Rude doesn't know because any dent in our friendship is one I don't want to have come about. If he finds out and gets angry, well, it's his own decision."

Elena's face went into a mask of anger.  He had to admit, motherhood made her a totally different woman.  "Reno, get off your damn high chocobo.  You're just like the rest of us, for all your not wanting to admit it.  And you know damn well Rude wouldn't be mad at you.  He loves you like family. "  She stood, face quirking and a hand covering her stomach.  "Forget it. You don't want to listen. I don't know why I bothered."

His eyes flickered back to her. "I'm just like everyone else. I admit it. But what does that mean, Elena; what are we, exactly?"

"People," she snapped, turning and going up the stairwell.

Reno stared at where she had been, then glanced at the pipe, no longer in the mood to work on it. He kicked out and his foot hit the lever on the wall, turning off the water supply for now, and he slowly started toward the stairs.

Being a person meant being human, and Reno wasn't good at that. Once upstairs, Reno wasn't sure what to do with himself. He didn't want to work, and Elena didn't seem too willing to be in his company for the time being. He looked out the nearest window and realized it was raining, something he hadn't gotten to see much of lately. He walked to the door, grabbed his jacket, and trudged outside into the rain, heading for the bar.

Despite the rain, Reno was in a decent mood as he maneuvered his way through homebound crowds, keeping his eyes on the cobblestone path. He didn't want to know it, but it had been a year today.

An entire year since he'd woken up to find Cloud Strife had disappeared.

Looking up at the neon signs in the distance, Reno figured it out.

He just needed a fucking drink.

The redhead, soaked to the bone, was maybe ten feet away from the bar when another person collided with him and they both lost their footing, the two ending up sprawled on the path.  But Reno was up immediately, looking down at the other man, whose hood was up. He snarled at him. "Watch where you're headed, dammit!"

He ended up on his ass, but the other man took his feet the moment Reno regained his own.

 The hood fell down.

The man was a bit taller then Reno, dark brown hair spiked up out of his loose ponytail.  Reno knew him before he spoke.  "God, still a mouthy fuck, aren't you?"

Memories of the mind's eye blanketed what he could physically see, but when he did see clearly, he knew what had just happened.

The what was Cloud Strife.

Reno looked disgusted. "You're hiding behind a false identity? Fucking hypocrite."

"I'm not denying it."  The once blonde man shook out his ponytail.  Longer, his hair still made the attempt to spike out.  Most of it dipped into his eyes before he pulled it back again. Reno could make out the blonde roots, just barely, under the brown. "How about I buy you a drink?" he offered.

Certain other roots he refused to acknowledge. "Buy me a drink?" he barked. "Goddammit, you're still like you always were! You just up and leave, run into me a year later, and think I'm just going to sit at the bar with you? What the hell's the matter with you?"

Cloud smirked. "Well, I'm crazy. I thought you knew that."  Taking a deep breath, Cloud continued on a more somber note, "If you would have asked me to stay, I would have, Reno. But you didn't."

The redhead scoffed. "I never asked you to stay in my apartment, either."

"You haven't changed a bit.  You know that?" Cloud responded.  "Well, maybe an explanation for lying to me would have been nice."  He shrugged.  "But we can't change any of that, so how about that drink?"

Cloud had just shown him they were even, something he couldn't deny. He held his hand out and caught some of the pounding rain, smirking. "You said it yourself, I ain't changed a bit. Do you even need to ask if I want a drink?"

"Well, it's part of whole scenario of getting you drunk and taking advantage of you.  I have to ask.  It's an unwritten law." The other man winked and entered the bar.

Reno followed him in, grinning.

This time, he knew exactly what he was getting into.

-Fin.

Basic Rundown: This entire fic was done over the course of two weeks through frequent meetings on MSN Messenger. Drakon and Reno have been planning a collaboration since they did a certain scene involving a diner in Like Father, Like Son. Drakon tossed a scene idea jokingly around one night, which was referred to as the "Fuck Your Brains Out" scene from there on, Reno took it seriously, and they built around that. And, actually, the title was thrown out as a joke by Chocobo Goddess, but it caught on. So, a magnificent mistake for the authors, this was. Edited and cleaned up with very little effort by Reno, "directed" by Drakon.

Reno's Note: My first attempt at a yaoi, so put the shotguns down. Reno/Cloud was a new couple idea for me, but I suppose it worked. We had another ending planned for it, but we decided to let the readers decide how they think it went. Oh, and Seven Star Box is an actual cigarette brand. Drakon was so fucking fun to work with that we've already got five or six chapters of our next fic, untitled, done, all written while I was cleaning this one up. So, this is what, WriDen Project 1b? Or can we just call it accidental fun and leave it at that? Awesome writing with you, Drakon. We still kick ass.

Drakon's Note: Not my first or my last attempt at the wonderful world of bishness.  But any of you shoot the boy and I will maim you.  Get it? And yeah, while a sadder ending would have been more our particular style, we left it like this.  I love working with Reno, it's an honor to work with anyone as talented as he is.  Our next fic will have a name.. we swear and promise.  And I think we call this the WriDen side works.   And yes Re, we kickith much ass. This I think will be the first of many.