Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated materials are property of Squaresoft.

Revolver
By: Nanaki BH

"It's good to see you know when to keep your goddamn mouth shut. You say one foul thing in front of my son and I'll be sure to find you a proper punishment. Do you hear me?"

Apparently, the slight nod he gave didn't do much to satisfy the president. He pushed Rude out of the way, causing Reno to fall awkwardly onto the hallway floor. He took a large handful of Reno's blood-stiffened hair and jerked his head back. On instinct, Reno growled and gritted his teeth, trying his hardest not to scream out in sudden pain. "You hear me?" he asked again, tightening his grip.

Reno managed to spit out an affirmative sort of mumble along with some blood and it was just enough for the president to release of him, causing him to fall forward onto the floor again. His vision was starting to blur but from his position on the ground, cheek flat against the marble floor, he could still make out the round figure of President Shinra as he continued to walk down the hall toward the conference room. He could still just barely see him, still hear the squeaking of his nicely polished shoes. And damn if he wanted to break his ankles and tear up those shoes.

He didn't care about the Shinra. He didn't give a fuck about the president. And if that wasn't enough, what made him believe that he would want to ever meet his little prissy son? He was probably some sort of gangly fellow with greased back hair and pants that were way too high on his waist; probably had a pocket protector, too. No, he thought, sneering. That was too kind. The son was probably just as fat, ugly, and corrupt as his father.

The only seemingly nice guy in the whole building was the one that was holding him still; Rude, another one of the Turks and his future partner. If he had to be in the dirty business with somebody, then it might as well have been Rude because the rest of Shinra were all pricks and whores as far as he was concerned. Rude seemed different, looked different, even acted different. He was quiet; didn't needlessly raise his voice like the president. Despite his size, he had some really gentle hands, too. Reno couldn't help but feel sorry for himself when the only thing he had to judge a person by was the way that they kept him from struggling. Though, it was kind of amazing how he could do that without him feeling threatened.

Rude lightly tightened his grip on Reno's upper arm and he stood, weakly wobbling on his feet. Softly, Rude muttered an apology. "I'm sorry you've gotta be put through this. His son's a bit nicer than he is, though. Just don't get any funny ideas."

And with those words of… condolence… they began to walk again. What could Rude have meant by that, though? Don't get any funny ideas? What, like launching himself across the room with what little remaining strength he had to break his neck or suffocate him? Nah, that would just get him in trouble. He would rather kill the president first. That sounded like a better idea, especially if the vice president was as nice as Rude made him out to sound. He was probably just some little suck-up. If his nerdy image of him was correct, then he was probably used to kissing some feet around the place, so…

They could be partners in crime?

His head just wasn't working the same anymore. What was he thinking? Him? The president's son? Friends? That was one hell of a brilliant idea. He would have slapped his own face for just thinking it if he had the strength – or a free hand to do it with, at the very least. It was just that his hands were tied behind his back so there really wasn't much he could do about anything. He could barely even lift himself up off the floor if he had to. Thank God Rude was holding him still. Thank God there weren't any guns pressed to his head anymore.

Yeah, that was lovely.

Ahead of them, President Shinra stopped, turned, and looked at them as if he expected them to run the rest of the way. Reno cursed him under his breath and the only one who heard him was Rude. He was sure of it because he let out a very soft chuckle. It was a definite comfort to see that at least somebody had some kind of humor. Once the two of them joined him at the door, the president turned the matching door knobs and the double doors flew open, revealing the ever-familiar conference room. Reno saw it often on the news whenever Shinra made an announcement about how they were reforming and blah, blah, blah.

Not like he ever listened. All the people were paying attention to was how well lit that room was, how clean it was, and how nicely everybody in the room was dressed. Every word they said sounded like, "Ha! We have more money than you do!" Just the sight of it disgusted him, anger growing in the pit of his stomach.

The president stepped up to the end of the long, narrow table and folded his arms. At the other end of the table, Reno figured, was Rufus Shinra, the president's son. He couldn't see him though; the tall chair he sat in was swiveled in the opposite direction so he was facing the windows. The itching at the back of his mind grew as he wondered what the vice president could possibly look like. He looked from the president then to the back of the chair, firmly convinced that one with such an ugly father would look just the same.

Without realizing it, the edges of his mouth formed into a disgusted frown and his eyebrows furrowed. Shinra just kept on standing there though, almost like he was obediently waiting for his son to turn around for him; giving him all the time he needed to do whatever it was… he was… doing. It looked like nothing. The kid was just staring out the window.

So not only was he bound to be ugly, he was snotty and took up other people's time. Reno laughed and shook his head, feeling sorry for himself. He'd wound up in such a dumb situation.

"Something funny?"

Reno's ears perked up, hearing the creaking of fresh leather. That tall, black leather seat turned around and revealed what Reno expected the least. He was handsome. He was gorgeous. He absolutely glowed.

The president's son couldn't have possibly been the president's son. He didn't exhibit even one of his father's imperfections. The vice president was beautiful and looked nothing like he expected him to. He practically radiated some kind of aura. It didn't matter what it was. Reno wanted some of it as fast as he could get it. That, of course, meant whenever he got his hands untied and was out of the president's view.

"I asked you," he repeated slowly, standing up from his seat, "what's so funny?"

The words Rude told him early finally came back to him: Just don't get any funny ideas. Right. So that's what he was talking about. Just looking at him suddenly made him feel like he was doing something horribly indecent. The thoughts that coursed through his mind felt like they were on open display. It might have been because he was tied up and a little delirious. After all, the last time he was tied up, he was blindfolded and eagle-spread on a cheap hotel room bed. He didn't necessarily want to keep himself from thinking those thoughts, though. In fact, he wanted to indulge in them but just… not in his present company.

Rufus was looking like he expected a pretty nice answer. Unable to think of anything quite so witty or intelligent in his current state of mind, he decided on something simpler.

"Nothing," he answered, offering him a grin.

He stared at him for a while, completely not amused. Eventually, he sunk back into his seat and folded his hands politely on the table. "Okay, father, so what's this all about? Are you bringing me your prisoners now or something? I'm sure there's a better place around here for him than the conference room."

Reno so wanted to see the look on Shinra's face when he heard his son speaking to him that way. He scooted around a little to the side and Rude didn't stop him. Thank God. The look he had was worth it. A cold sweat was breaking out on his forehead, like his patience was on a short leash and it was ready to snap. His teeth were gritted and his fists kept tightening. Reno got the idea that if the two of them weren't in the room, the president would have been spitting fire at his son. Rude was right. The kid was an amusing one.

The president took a deep breath to settle himself. "He's not a prisoner, son. He's our newest Turk."

"Fresh off the street I take it?"

"He's new. And I'm going on a business trip." Reno's mouth hung open. For whatever reason, he understood what President Shinra was trying to say before he even said it. And if it was what he thought he was going to say, then he was pretty damn excited. "While I'm away on my trip, I'm going to trust that you have him acclimated to our regiment. Understood?"

Acclimated? Reno didn't care what the regiment was that he was talking about. So long as he was getting "acclimated" at the hands of Rufus Shinra then he would enjoy every second of it. Rude nudged Reno hard in the side and he snapped his head around quickly to ask him what he did it for. The stern look he gave him was all he needed. He could tell he was thinking those funny thoughts. He was getting pretty close to what he wanted so far though, so he didn't want to give up so soon. Rude's advice would just have to wait for a little while.

Rufus sighed and rubbed his middle and index fingers over his temples, looking like his father was giving him a headache. "Alright," he said, waving a flippant hand at him. "I'll take care of your pet for you while you go on vacation. Whatever."

If Reno was the pet, then his tail was surely wagging. Once the president got the idea that his son didn't want to be bothered by him, he turned to leave. Before he left, he took a look from Reno to Rufus then back to Reno. "Just remember what I told you before, Turk."

Don't say anything bad to him, right? What kinds of things would he say to him, anyway? Reno would have come up with another amusing mental list but the sound of the double doors slamming drew his mind away from all possible thoughts. Suddenly, he realized he was alone in the room with Rufus. Suddenly, that room felt a lot bigger with just the two of them. He laughed nervously, hopping from one foot to the other awkwardly.

"I'm… uh… Reno," he said, smiling. "I don't suppose you'd take these ropes off my arms for me, would you?"

He scoffed, turning his head away. "I'm not so sure I even want to be in the same room with you, for that matter. Who the hell are you, anyway?"

Crestfallen, Reno lowered his head. The guy was so perfect and there he was looking like a shit. He started to wish they had let him see a mirror before they brought him to the vice. He could only wonder what his face looked like after they got done beating him up. It was obvious that he had blood on his face; he could see that for himself. The ropes were giving him some nasty posture, too.

"Well," he said, looking back up. He hoped Rufus would be looking at him, but his gaze was still elsewhere. "I'm the new Turk, like he said. I am… was… a weapons dealer. I…" And about then he couldn't think of anything else to say about himself. There really wasn't much to him. He lived on the street so it wasn't like he owned some kind of grand business like them. He didn't go on vacations to exotic locations and he didn't know another language or how to play piano. He was ordinary.

Rufus groaned and it became obvious that he had the same short patience that his father did. Things were looking bad for Reno. There wasn't much to say that could convince him that he was some guy he should get in bed with. "I'm sorry," Reno apologized for himself, looking away again. "There's not much to say about myself."

"Clearly. None of you Turks are very exciting. You're all mindless assassins who follow my father's every whim. Isn't that sort of boring?"

"I don't know who you've been listening to, but I don't like your dad at all. You don't either, right? Frankly, I don't even really like Shinra. I was liking it on my own but they thought I would be a good asset or something like that." Luckily, it was looking like he was bringing him around. Mentioning his distaste for his father had him interested, it seemed. "So are you going to untie me or not?"

Rufus considered his request for a second and then shrugged. He came forward from around the table and got behind him to loosen the ropes. "You're trying to get on my good side, aren't you?"

A spark struck at the back of Reno's mind and he winced. He'd been found out but… was it really that bad? He didn't sound like he was angry at all. Maybe he didn't have any friends or allies. Well, neither did Reno so it seemed like a win-win situation for the both of them. Neither of them liked the president and neither of them seemed particularly interested in working at the Shinra building. Things were looking up again.

"So I'm trying to get on your good side a little," Reno laughed. "But at least there's somebody who's trying to, right? And besides, I don't know anybody around here. If I'm going to be stuck here for life like I think, I might as well find somebody I enjoy."

"Enjoy?" Rufus asked. Curiously, he circled him, the rope falling from his loose fingers to the red carpet. He slipped an arm casually around his shoulders, and leaned in close enough to whisper in his ear. "Please tell me you mean that the way I think you do," he muttered breathily.

Reno swallowed hard, cheeks already feeling hot. All of a sudden his wish was being fulfilled. He questioned the situation enough times just to be sure it was actually happening. Rufus was definitely inches away from his face still and his arm was definitely still around his shoulders. One very gentle, warm hand rose to Reno's middle, pushing up the bottom of his shirt to touch his stomach.

"Sexual harassment?" Reno joked, doing nothing to stop Rufus's probing fingers. There still seemed to be something horribly wrong with what was happening. Rude was gone and so was the president; probably already on his way out to his business trip. Still, there was something about the way that Rufus was acting that had him confused. Unless he was desperate, easy, or incredibly horny, Reno just couldn't justify why Rufus was making the moves so quick. That was his job!

A kiss to the side of his neck was what forced Reno to break away finally. "Look," he said, "you're a really sexy guy and I would love to get in your pants, too, but why are you being so forward with me?"

"Honestly?" he asked, like he expected Reno to answer any other way. Of course, he wanted the truth. What did he expect? The truth was difficult for Rufus though, it seemed. Reno locked gazes with him and Rufus immediately looked away. There was something there in his eyes, reflecting in Reno's; something that scared him and made him shy away. Reno wanted to find out what it was badly but with his superior hiding it the way he was, he was afraid he would never know.

"I…" he whispered, distancing himself a little from Reno. "I want to know something different; something knew." That completely explained why he was man-handling Reno, of course. If he was going to talk in riddles, as far as Reno was concerned, they weren't going to get anywhere. But there was something in his voice that he understood even in his half-conscious state. No matter how odd of a statement it seemed, it made some sense to Reno, if only from the way he said it.

"You really hate being here, don't you? Not just Shinra. Here. Midgar. You hate it all, too, don't you?"

When Rufus looked back up into Reno's eyes, they were shining over with a glaze of tears, ready to spill forth. His resolve and his will must have been as strong as steel. Living in the very place he hated the most, living with the people he never wanted to see; Reno understood how things were for him exactly. Everyone in Midgar would have understood how he felt. When you live life never seeing the sun, you long for a way out.

That's how things were. "And I'm your way out?"

The tears never fell from his eyes. "I'm just hoping you will be, Reno."

Author's Notes: Success! This was "#21, violence; pillage/plunder; extortion" for 30kisses. I told you that last one gave me an idea. Oddly, I had planned for it to end in sex but the way I arranged the dialogue, I just couldn't see it happening in the end. I really hope to get those two in bed sometime, though. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this one. Much love to my readers! Feedback's appreciated as always!