Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in Final Fantasy VII or anything really. That joy belongs to Square-Enix. Someday I will own a Reno plushie to hug, though. Squeeee!

Two

Attitude Problem/Employment

When he woke again, he was lying on yet another hospital bed. He glared at the ceiling. "I am making a habit of this," he muttered as he rolled off the bed, coming shakily to his feet. His arm hurt. He glanced down at it, frowning. There was a neat line of stitches running down his left forearm across the base of his wrist. He stared at it. "What the hell…?"

Some bastard had opened up his wrist and… shoved something inside. He could just feel something foreign pressing against the skin. It was awful. He hissed in a furious breathe and started to tug at the stitches. He noticed a scalpel sitting in a kidney dish on a table nearby. He picked it up and cut the stitches away, slipping his fingers into the hole and pulling out a small flat electronic devise designed to curve around his arm muscle. It only just stung, so he figured that whatever anaesthetic had been used to numb his arm was still in effect. Maybe they had expected him to stay out for longer, which would explain why he hadn't been restrained in any way. Reno grinned. A former addiction to practically every kind of drug in the world had given him a completely insane immune system – basic painkillers just didn't work anymore and the heavier stuff didn't keep him out for nearly as long as it would to a normal person. For the first time in his life, he was grateful that he'd been an addict.

He opened the door carefully, noticing that it hadn't even been locked. Slack bastards. Stepping into the hallway, Reno was delighted to see that it was all deserted, not a human in sight, not even a security camera. He slipped out into the hall, jogging as quietly as is actually possible in heavy boots, wandering around aimlessly as he tried to find a way out. Through a stroke of blind luck, he caught sight of an EXIT sign. He started to run faster, not caring how much noise he made, sprinting through the doors and past a couple of very surprised security guards. He took of into the growing dark, headed for the Slums of Midgar, where, ironically enough, he'd be safe. It wasn't often that anyone could claim he'd be safe in the Slums.

Three hours later, Reno was passed out on a mattress at a friend's one bedroom apartment. He was sleeping peacefully, happy in the certain knowledge that there was absolutely no fucking way that Tseng would be able to track him down in here. The joy of the Slums was that you could loose yourself really easily in the seething mass of humanity that was the Slums idea of a crowd. And there were all sorts of people who had been just delighted to offer the teenager a place to stay. Most of them were female…

He yawned and rolled over, his eyes snapping open as some sense alerted him to danger. He was on his feet and halfway to the window when Tseng kicked the door in and shot him in the back of his right shoulder. Reno half screamed and started to swear as darkness closed over him again. He made a small mental tally: this was the second time the bastard had shot him over the past couple of days. It was also the third time he'd passed out.

I hate you, Tseng…

"Wow, we got some variety this time," Reno muttered as he slowly became aware of his surroundings. For once he was NOT in a hospital bed. He was in a large waiting room, instead, being held up by two Shinra grunts. "Fucking marvellous." He felt like he was going to throw up, but he managed to fight it down. His head hurt now, too. And his arm throbbed. And his shoulder still hurt like crazy, even though someone had obviously healed it at some stage  he would have one hell of a bruise, but on the plus side, at least he wasn't dripping blood everywhere, for once. He gave up on cataloguing all his aches and pains, simply deciding that he felt like shit and he wished this day would end.

"Shut up, Reno," he heard Tseng murmur from somewhere nearby. "The President is coming." Reno managed to turn his head and glare at the older man. "I fucking hate you," he hissed, breathing out sharply as the two men who'd been holding him upright dropped him to the ground. He doubled over momentarily. "That's nice," Tseng replied. "Now shut up." Reno snickered quietly as his vision changed back from swirling black dots to normal sight. He lifted bloodshot eyes to glare at the approaching blob that was President Shinra.

"Well, well, well…" he laughed, his multiple chins wobbling. Sickened, Reno glanced away. "Our little escape artist has come home!" He clapped his hands together. Reno looked up, loathing in his blue-green eyes. He was about to say something furious, but the Rufus Shinra walked into the room and locked eyes with him. Don't say a word… the blonde teenager mouthed.

Reno narrowed his eyes, but Rufus just glared at him. Do as you're told… Reno dropped his eyes to the ground with a little sigh. He had no idea why he was obeying Rufus, but the fact that the blonde almost definitely had a gun concealed somewhere on his person probably had something to do with it. He'd been shot more than enough over the past couple of days, thanks very much.

President Shinra began to rant about then. He shouted about loyalty to Shinra Corporations, about trust, about earned respect. He also added subtle and not so subtle threats, just for affect while Reno stared at him with scorn he didn't even bother to conceal. The President rounded off his speech by kicking Reno in the head. Reno fell back, spitting blood and curses. He came up with murder in his eyes, reaching for the knife he had concealed under his shirt. Thank gods Tseng hadn't searched him for weapons yet…

The cold, smooth barrel of a gun stared him in the face as his eyes met with equally cold blue eyes. "Don't make me shoot you…" Rufus said softly, his lips barely moving, as though he wanted to keep what he said from his father. Reno sighed and let go of the knife. He told himself that arguing with a gun was pointless, but really, it was probably more the concussion he'd accumulated and the way there was a small flicker of humanity in Rufus's eyes which almost begged Reno not to do anything stupid. A second later, six grunts burst into the room and started beating the crap out of Reno for daring to raise a hand to their precious President. Reno phased out after awhile and just let them kick him around. He was in a place somewhere beyond painful blows to the head. He was floating in a haze of semiconsciousness and blood loss. He was practically seeing the original tunnel of light.

In short, it was a good thing President Shinra left the room about then, so Rufus could order the men off Reno was going into delayed shock from to much pain over too little time. The world hazed yet again as there was the soft sound of footsteps near his ear.

"Are you awake still?" Rufus's voice said calmly from somewhere above him.

"…yes…" Reno managed, closing his eyes against the pain. He had two cracked ribs at the very least, and he couldn't feel his feet. That scared him more than anything. He felt a cool hand touch the side of his face lightly, and hissed at the pain even that small contact generated. Rufus didn't bother to shift and lessen the pain, just began to chant softly as a green orb glowed in his other hand. After a second Reno could feel his lower body again. He wished almost immediately that he couldn't  needles of pure white-hot agony shot through his body as bones knitted themselves back together, cuts closed over and bruises faded away, compacting all the pain they would have caused during a normal healing to happen in under two minutes. Reno whimpered quietly, very grateful that he'd been unconscious for the other two healings. He bit his lip ring, trying not to make any more noise as Rufus gave him a vaguely scornful look. Reno glared back.

Once the healing was over, Rufus slipped his hand away and stood up. Reno was disgusted to find himself missing the feel of cool fingers on his cheek a little. He saw Rufus scrubbing his hand on his jacket and felt hot fury run through him. The fucker couldn't even stand to touch him, could he? Well, fuck him, too.

Reno somehow struggled to his feet and stood there, swaying. Rufus gave him a calculating look, watching as he nearly lost his balance. With a barely audible sigh, he reached out and grabbed Reno's arm, steadying him. Reno stared at him. This was… unexpected.

Rufus didn't meet his eyes, just pulled a small bunch of keys from his pocket and tossed them to Tseng. "Take him there," he instructed. "He needs sleep. When he wakes up, give him a uniform and send him to me again. We'll discuss his employment arrangements then. Oh, and make sure he eats something. He's all skin and bones."

And with that he shoved Reno at Tseng and stalked towards the elevators. "Yes, sir," Tseng said calmly, taking Reno and towing him towards another elevator. Reno closed his eyes on the trip down. The world was becoming far too surreal. He didn't even have the energy to try to make a break for it as Tseng led him through the streets, down into the Slums and to a grey apartment building. All he could manage was to drop face down onto the bed Tseng told him was his.

Back in the Shinra buildings, Rufus sat in his immaculate office and stared at the hand he had laid on Reno's flushed cheek. It had yet to stop tingling. He sighed and picked up a glass of… something alcoholic. "I don't have time for this."

Reno frowned slightly at the bathroom mirror as he ran his hand through his now neat hair. He was so not used to this… His hair was clean for the first time in months and tied back with a leather tie the hairdresser had given him. The hairdresser had cringed, like, a lot, when Reno had been marched into his little shop but he had done a good job, cutting his hair into a sort of mullet, longish on top with the super long ponytail reaching halfway down his back. He'd actually let Reno keep his ponytail, although it was a hell of a lot neater than before. Reno sighed and glared. It was way too neat. He suddenly randomly scrubbed at his head with his hands, spiking his hair wildly. There, that was better. He wrapped a towel around his waist and went to go get dressed.

Wandering out of the bathroom, he came face to face with Tseng, who was holding a pile of clothes. "Here," the impassive dark haired man said, shoving the clothes at Reno. "You're to wear this."

Reno glared at him. "How the hell did you get in here? The door was locked." And had a chair under the knob as well, so no one could get in even if they did have a key, he added silently. Tseng didn't reply.

"Have you been eating?" he asked suddenly. Reno blinked. What? Oh, yeah, he was only wearing a towel. He glanced down. His ribs were pretty prominent. He glared at Tseng again. "Some of us don't get our meals delivered to us of a fucking silver platter," he snarled, retreating to the bathroom again, the clothes in his arms.

He emerged ten minutes later, wearing the white shirt, dark blue slacks and matching jacket that made up the Turk uniform. He wore the shirt open at the neck and untucked, not having even bothered with the tie; his jacket was worn open as well. Tseng frowned as he sat down and started yanking on a pair of heavy boots. "You should not be wearing the uniform in that way," he said, a faint hint of disapproval entering his voice.

"Get fucked, asshole," Reno said, but half heartedly. He couldn't manage to summon the energy to be angry over something so trivial. "I'll do what I like, at least with this… you've decided every other fucking thing for me…"

Tseng raised an eyebrow. "You are in no condition to be making your own decisions. How many illegal drugs are you addicted to?"

"None - been there, done that, lost the brain cells. Not that it's any of your fucking business." The redhead's voice was slightly muffled as he knotted the laces on one of his boots. Reno straightened up and glared at the older man. "Is there any real reason you still have to be here? You've given me the uniform, now piss off."

Tseng sighed. "Come with me. I've been told to bring you to Rufus. He wants to talk to you."

Rufus Shinra looked as immaculate as ever as Reno walked into his rooms. He was standing near a huge wall of glass which was probably what he considered a window, sipping a glass of some kind of amber alcohol. Reno sniggered when he caught sight of the glass wall. "Now there's a security issue…" he said, grinning. Rufus turned and gave him a cool look, flicking his eyes to his hair and giving a faint smile of approval. "Indeed… or, it would be, were it not made completely from bullet proof glass… Tseng, would you please leave us alone? I want to talk to Reno."

Tseng looked faintly dubious, but he did leave, shooting Reno a warning look, that clearing said that if he tried anything, he'd be collecting bits of his head for days to come. Reno smirked in return. Rufus beckoned him as the door closed. He wandered a little closer, stopping about six feet away. "You want something?"

"Two hundred thousand gil."

Reno felt his body freeze. "What?"

Rufus gave him a long calm look. "Two hundred thousand gil. That's what I'll pay you, extras and bonuses excluded, a year. My father will offer you a fraction of that, as a junior Turk, and a troublemaker."

Reno's eyes narrowed as he stared at the blonde. "And you are offering me that much because…?" He was frankly curious, hating how the other was impossible to read. Reno could normally form a fairly good guess of what somebody was thinking from a combination of born instinct and experience of the confusing creature known as man. But he could get nothing from this guy, nothing at all. He didn't know what his motives were, why he did what he did. It really pissed him off.

Rufus was impressed, he'd expected more swearing than this.

"Because I want to. I can afford it. And I would prefer to have you on my side rather than my father's. What do you say?" Ice blue eyes locked with bluey-green ones. Reno was frowning, thin red brows drawn down sharply over a straight nose. He was obviously thinking it over.

"How much would you normally pay a Turk?" Reno asked, and a great deal of the usual anger was gone from his voice. Rufus smiled slightly. "About half that. If they were good."

Reno nodded. "And what would you want in return? What would I have to do?"

"I want absolute loyalty," Rufus said flatly, eyes pinning Reno to the wall. "I want you to stop trying to kill Tseng. I don't want there to be anymore bullshit like yesterday. If you ever attack me again you will be dismissed immediately, and I do not rate your chances of survival after that as particularly high - Tseng will hunt you down and kill you. You will do as you are told. Before you become a 'real' Turk, you will have to complete… something at a training camp somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure of the details, if you want to know more, then you should ask Tseng. But after that, all you have to do is whatever I want." The elusive half smile appeared again and disappeared just as quickly.

Reno laughed shortly at that. "Will I get an EMR?" Red hair fell in his eyes. He flicked it away impatiently.

"One track mind, Reno?" Rufus asked with a faint smile. He walked away from the window, absently handing his empty glass to Reno. Reno stared at it for a second, then put it on a nearby table without complaint. Rufus flipped open a stainless steel case that was sitting on yet another small table, drawing out a familiar looking rod. He tossed it to Reno. The redhead caught it without visible effort, and gave a wide grin that lit his eyes up and made him look like a little boy at Christmas. (Admittedly, he wasn't really a little boy anymore, and the toy he had just been given was capable of causing extreme pain and death, but you get the idea.)

Rufus watched with amused eyes as Reno made a few experimental passes with the EMR, suddenly working out how to change the power output. He turned it to level seven, the highest, immediately. Rufus sighed as he watched blue electricity crackle around the steel nightstick. "Reno… Level seven is commonly known as 'kill'. I would suggest you turn it down again until you get the hang of it - drop the thing on your foot and kill yourself and I will be very unimpressed."

Reno gave him an utterly filthy look but turned the power back down again. He tilted his head on one side for a second, looking like a very cute redheaded pigeon. (A/N: Don't ask me where that came from, I don't know.) Then he scuffed a booted foot along the ground, and said, "What're the other Turks paid?"

"Like I said, about half of what you'll be receiving, if they're good at their job. What of it?"

"Give me the same. I don't want to be singled out."

Rufus frowned. "I was serious when I made that offer, Reno, and it still stands."

"Thank you, sir. But I don't think I need it. Two hundred thousand seems a little over the top." Reno's brain screamed at him, asking him what the fuck he thought he was doing. Shut the hell up, he told it. A hundred grand is fucking great on its own. I don't need any more. Besides… my loyalty isn't worth that much. Rufus stared at Reno for a while, then smiled slightly, inscrutable as ever. "As you like," he said calmly. "You should probably start packing sometime soon - you'll be leaving for the training camp quite early tomorrow morning."

Hours upon hours later, Rufus stared silently into space, wondering what would happen now. He'd set everything in motion, given Reno every opportunity he could. Why? If someone had of asked, he wouldn't have answered, not just because he didn't want to, but because he didn't really even have an answer, not for himself, not for anybody. He doubted he ever would. There was just something about the redhead that screamed out, forcing everybody to take notice of him, howling for attention. He was utterly impossible to ignore.

And so he'd come crashing into Rufus' ordered existence, destroying all his balance. Balance was very important to Rufus, without it, he could not achieve emotional distance, the coldness he required to continue living. If he began to care, it would all unravel…

But still…

…glaring up at him from the floor…

…on his knees, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as the rage he was trying to suppress glinted in his eyes…

…staring at him with disdainful eyes as he gave him a ridiculous offer, demanding loyalty from someone who would most likely betray him…

…accepting his offer, but twisting it around until he was the winner, he was somehow the one in power…

What the hell had Reno done to him? He trusted Tseng with his life, but nothing else. Tseng knew nothing of his feelings. But with Reno, he had felt an instant bond, something strange and unknown.

Maybe… a… friend?

Friendship? Was he even capable of that? Who knew… Either way, it would be a couple of months before Reno came back from his training. He would have had the time to decipher his feelings by then. Rufus stood up, wandering from his desk towards the window and leaning on the wall beside it, staring out into the night. He stayed that way until morning, when Tseng came to find him.

A/N: Alright, there's the first part done. I know it's short, about as long as single chapter I've done for other stories, but it's really just the introduction. It's tentative, but I'm thinking about doing maybe three Chronicles. This one's called "Rat" (like street rat) set before Reno becomes a Turk, then one about after he comes back leading through the game etc ("Reno") and one set after/during Advent Children ("Rufus"). Let me know what you think, okay. If it's a bad idea, I won't do it.

Gratefulness abounding to YinYangWhiteTiger, izzy283, and whoever the anonymous person known only as "Reno" is. I liiiiiike reviews. Thanks a lot. I mean, consider how nearly a hundred people have actually at least looked at the story, possible even read the story, and those three were the ones nice enough to leave me reviews. I'm ever so grateful.