Disclaimer: No, I don't own FFVII or any of it's characters.

Rude: Running Through Darkness

"You really think this is enough?" The smug voice of the Mafia representative echoes through the warehouse where Reno and I are negotiating a deal for some information. Idiots, trying to change the agreement after they've been paid. No doubt he's about to launch into a lengthy speech threatening us, before demanding more money.

I hear a slight scuff of leather on concrete and rustling of cloth beside me as Reno shifts his weight, preparing to attack. He doesn't have the patience for boring speeches. Obviously we're going to have to make an example of these fools, to discourage others from trying to renegotiate with the Turks.

I lunge forward without warning, and hear a metallic clicking to my side as Reno deploys his electro mag rod. Heading toward the voice that's droning on about proper compensation, I feel the fingertips of my lead hand brush skin as I make contact. My hand traces it's way around to the back of his head as my other palm rams directly into the point of his jaw. One quick twist later, and the loudmouth is silenced permanently. I hear several shocked inhalations from his bodyguards, and to the side I hear an impact accompanied by the distinctive crackle of my partner's weapon of choice.

Targeting the two nearest gasps, I simultaneously strike both bodyguards flanking my first target with backhands, stunning them enough that I have time to hook a hand behind each of their necks, pulling them into front headlocks. I grasp their chins and jerk them upwards and out, then release, allowing two more bodies to fall to the floor. "Heh, amateurs." I hear Reno complain while electrocuting another gangster. "There's no fun in the easy ones."

From my other side I hear the distinctive hiss of a knife slicing through the air as they finally counterattack. One distinct advantage of having mako-enhanced speed is demonstrated here, as the battle is half over before our targets even have time to react. I shift to the side slightly and shoot a hand up towards slightly behind the hissing sound. Applying a downward twist, I'm rewarded with the sound of a shattering wrist.

He surprises me with a punch from his other hand. It's not powerful enough to cause any real damage, otherwise I would have felt him shifting his weight since I still hold his wrist. It is, however, powerful enough to knock off my shades. "What the hell?" he gasps in shock. Big mistake. Few things piss me off as much as messing with my shades. With my free hand I grasp him around the neck and use my thumb to crush his trachea. At the same time my right foot lashes out in a light hook kick to locate his leg, then returns in a stomp that destroys his knee. I seize his good arm and precisely snap it at the elbow, then leave him to slowly asphyxiate, helpless.

The sharp sound of gunfire echoes from in front of me. I respond by drawing my sidearm, a .44 automag fitted with the best sound suppressor money can buy, then firing at the nearest crack of a firing pistol. I hear the puff of my bullet sliding through the air, the click of my weapon's slide cycling, then a pained yelp as my target takes a bullet to the hand. I direct my second shot towards the yelp, silencing him with a round in the face. I hear multiple puffs and clicks from my side as Reno opens up on the other two gunmen. Sounds like he's carrying his old .45 today.

"That's the last of them." he informs me. I reholster my sidearm and hear the sound of steel sliding against leather from his direction as he does the same. I then hear his distinctive footfalls as he strides forward to retrieve the briefcase filled with the company's money. I pull a pack of business cards from a pocket and scatter them over the area, a rustle and rapid snaps from my partner confirms he's doing the same. Whoever finds the bodies and cards will know they are looking at the consequences of messing with the Turks and will spread the word.

"Shit, this asshole stepped on your shades." I feel an annoyed grimace cross my face at the news. I hear a rustle and his footsteps approaching. "Here, you can borrow mine till you get a new pair." I reach towards the voice and feel him set his goggles in my palm.

"Thanks." I tell him. It's good to have friends like this. He's one of the few who knows why I always wear shades, and he's never given any indication that he looks down on me because of it.

"Let's go get a drink." he suggests as I don his goggles.

"We need to report in first." I pull my phone from a pocket and slide my thumb over the familiar braille buttons, punching in Tseng's number.

"Fine, but we're hitting the bar soon as you're off the line. Damn workaholic." I can tell from his tone that he's grinning.

Author's Note: As always, thanks go to Noroi for kindly betaing this. In case anyone didn't get the hints, in this fic Rude wears shades all the time because he's blind. Guess I can't really call this chapter a POV, then. PO everything except V, maybe. I've been writing a lot of fluffy stuff lately, so I kinda had an urge to go the other way for a bit and crank out something violent. Hopefully you like this.

I'm not sure when I'll do the next chapter for this, but I plan to eventually do short POVs for every major Shin-Ra employee and maybe a few minor ones like a random guard or janitor. I've got ideas for Reno and Cid chapters, but they still need some work. This chapter can take place at basically any time during Rude and Reno's careers as Turks.

Feedback! Please review. After taking the time to read this, is it really that much trouble to take a few seconds more and leave some feedback? I even take anonymous reviews. It doesn't have to be a long, eloquent review, although reviews like that make me really happy. Just a simple "I liked this." or "You suck!" to let me know how I'm doing would be appreciated. Hopefully I'll get more of the former than the latter, though...

New note: Edited again because some site update deleted all the '--' lines I used to use to denote scene changes and separate out the title & notes. So time to slap horizontal rulers into all my fics.