LEFT BEHIND

RENO

June 30 – Medical Centre – 9 AM

Reno knew they were all going to be mad at him for not letting anyone know that he left his place. He would use the lack of voice as an excuse until someone reminded him that he could have texted them.

Plus, it wasn't like he took off somewhere he shouldn't be. He was back at the medical center.

Well, that wasn't entirely true either. He was in a room that he shouldn't be and he wasn't to sure that it was such a great idea.

He chewed his lip nervously as he looked in the room. Lore and that kid, Errow were there, but there was something different about the kid and it took a couple of moments.

He had come because he wanted to see Lore and try to talk to him. He had his new friend, a handy dandy note pad, ready to ask Lore… well, he had some questions, he was sure of it. So he couldn't think of it now, but he would when he had to ask Lore the questions.

Errow moved and it would have caused him to scream if he had his voice. Because it wasn't his arm, or a leg that moved, it was a pair of damn wings that he had now mounted on his back.

Lore opened his dark blue eyes and looked at him with startled blinks.

"Reno?" he whispered in a soft voice; the same type of soft voice that was used when he was in that basement to calm him after his sister tortured him.

Okay. So this wasn't one of his best ideas in the world. Okay, maybe it was up there in the worst idea he had ever had. He had been so confident about 'talking' to him until he was looking at him.

"Are you okay?" Lore asked as he looked down at him with those same caring eyes. Was it just an act? Reno couldn't tell. It was almost scary that he kind of felt sorry for the guy. He didn't mind feeling sorry for him; after all, he was just was unfortunate to have a crazy sister. He wasn't the one causing all the trouble. So he had read him Loveless for hours as a method of torture. He should have been mad at Lore. He should at least be a little upset at Lore. Why did he not feel a little bit upset at his treatment?

"Still can't talk, huh?" Lore said. "I am really sorry for what my sister did to you." His voice was low and sad. Maybe he did mean it. His eyes looked like he meant it. Damn it, the guy was a nice guy mixed up with bad people.

Hell, he was on the list of bad people.

"Why are you here?" Lore asked.

Good damn question.

He couldn't think of why the hell this was a good idea. He should just turn on his heels, go back home, and hide under the covers. Yeah, act like a child and think that a small sheet of cotton can protect you from a world of monsters.

"Mr. Reno."

He was startled at the little voice and the kid green eyes looking at him. Those green eyes freaked him right out. The same green as Sephiroth, but with kindness in them and it was a little unnerving. Damn it.

He had to keep telling himself, that it wasn't the kid's fault that his parents were screwed up experiments.

Errow was just a kid born into a strange situation.

It ended up with wings.

Man. No one deserved to be an experiment.

"You cut your hair," the boy said and readjusted himself on his uncle's chest and ruffled his wings. He smiled with perfect white teeth.

He realized that he had never seen the kid smile. He had always just looked at him with solemn look on his face and sometimes pity when he was not moaning in pain. He remembered once that the kid had been crying for him. The kid had apologized for what his mother was doing to him.

He wondered if Sephiroth could have ever looked like that. He had never seen the man smile beyond a tugging at the corner of the lips.

He ran his fingers through his way to short hair and gave a small smirk. He wanted to say something, but of course, words wouldn't come out.

"Mom won't hurt you anymore if you talk. It's okay now," Errow said still with a smile. He ruffled his wings and seemed to be happy about them. He folded them neatly on his back as if they had them all his life.

He took a step back. He was scared now and it wasn't of the man in the bed but the calm way the boy was talking to him.

Okay, so it was a really bad idea to come here. He was not known for his good ideas. Of course, he was not expecting the kid to have sprouted wings overnight.

Lore was looking at him with a concerned look. Okay, so he had a bad case of that Stockholm syndrome when he wasn't even the least bit mad at the guy.

Did he see Genesis wings and did something click in him to understand the pain that was in his back and consuming him was supposed to be natural. Well, natural for him. Natural for an experiment of ShinRa.

"I am not my father," Errow whispered and looked down at his hands. "I know who he is now and I know why people are scared of me."

He looked at the kid.

"And I am not my mother."

Yeah.

He took another step back.

A hand fell on his shoulder and he just about jumped out of his skin. It was Tseng. He was frowning at him and looking a little ruffled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Of course, he couldn't answer. He wanted too, not that he could have said anything that was rational anyway. He really had no answer that would be appropriate, or made sense.

Errow frowned at Tseng and seem to cower against his uncle now. Errow frowned obviously did not like the leader of the Turks. Lore hugged his nephew tighter but did not say anything.

"Where is Rude!" It wasn't a question. "You are not to travel around alone!" He took a few steps back from the angry Tseng.

Lore was hugging Errow tighter. Tseng grabbed him roughly and dragged him out of the room and into the hall. "What the hell did you doing? You are not well enough to confront him. Did you think you could talk to him? What the hell did you plan on saying?"

Tseng was not one for profane language or showing emotion on his face, but there was written on his face.

"Reno. You will go to my office and sit there. Sleep or something but you will not leave until Rude comes to collect you!" Tseng said and shoved his shoulder. "There is enough difficulties happening now, you don't need to complicate things further."

Complicate things further…

Reno could only blink.

He was complicating things?

It wasn't the first time that he had been told that he had been complicating things, but it was the first time that it bothered him.

He swallowed hard and ground his teeth. He shook his head at Tseng. He opened his mouth to yell at him, but of course, nothing would come out. He tried to call him every name in the book, but even curses were beyond his capability at the moment.

"Do I need to escort you?" Tseng hissed.

He was not a child and didn't like being treated like one.

Tseng grabbed his arm sharply and they started to walk and he followed. In the elevator, Tseng sighed. "How are you going to get better if you don't follow directions?"

He pouted. He knew that he was pouting. He knew that he was acting like a child. He hated not being able to talk. He hated that he failed the mission. He hated that he cut his hair. He hated the fact that he wasn't even mad at the guy who had forced him to listen to horrible poetry. He couldn't even hate the Sephiroth-spawn which had sprouted wings. He did hate that crazy woman. That was who he was supposed to confront her, not him. She was the only one that he hated. He couldn't even hate that pesky Cloud after seeing him nearly broke down and had to have Tifa (a very fat Tifa) to bring him back from his normal sulkiness.

Well, at least he had the hate for one person.

But there was no way he could look at that woman. Hell, he couldn't even think of her name without shivering. All he could see was her glowing blue eyes, which resembled Clouds.

"I should send you away, Reno," Tseng said as the elevator opened. "You are not going to get better like this."

He shook his head. Yeah. Tseng was right. Tseng dragged him down the hall. But he wasn't going to get better running away from all of it either and he was not going to allow them to ship him out.

He blinked. This wasn't Tseng office. It was on the opposite side of the building. He looked around.

"Lira destroyed my office," Tseng said obviously seeing the look on his face. "Stay here. Order some breakfast…" He frowned. "I will order you something."

Reno found a chair, crossed his arms and legs.

"Quit pouting like a child," Tseng said. "I will most likely being telling you to shut up in no time."

RUFUS

June 30 – Medical Centre – 9 AM

Rufus had only met Genesis twice in his youth and the man did strike him as strange and eccentric man. Seeing him sitting with a bandaged chest in his bare room with bandages across his chest, his eyes shaded behind his reddish-brown hair and a stupid battered book in his hand.

"So you are the president now," Genesis said.

"Yes," he said simply.

"You are not a boy anymore. I remember you being quite a brat," Genesis said with a smirk.

He heard Reeve gasp beside him but did not say anything.

"So," Genesis said looking directly at Reeve. His eyes are glowing more than he remembered any SOLDIER's eyes glowing. They were almost scary. "You are the figure head, eh, Reeve."

Reeve swallowed but said nothing.

Genesis chuckled.

"Who was that SOLDIER that skewered me?" Genesis said, his eyes going between them. A hand touching his bandaged chest where Cloud had tried to kill him.

Reeve spoke, "He was never a SOLDIER."

Genesis cocked his head to the side. "So, what do you call them now?"

Rufus frowned. "He is the one that killed Sephiroth."

Genesis laughed at that and stopped when it hurt his chest. "That punk? Killed Sephiroth?"

"He would have finished you, if Tseng did not stop him. Cloud has no love loss for any SOLIDERS," Rufus said.

"So, am I supposed to be grateful that I am alive." there was so much hate in that voice. "All hail ShinRa! Or should I just call it by its new name, the WRO." Pure hate was all that he felt off the man.

"You are supposed to be dead," Rufus said, "After your defection started the ruin of my father's company."

"Am I given that much credit?" Genesis said with a smile. "Should I be honoured?"

"I would have preferred if Cloud had killed you," Rufus said hotly. "Honestly. I do not know why Tseng stopped him from killing you. You have caused so many problems with your own little personal vendettas to become a hero." He saw how Genesis eyes narrowed. "Was that not your goal? To be a hero? Of course, it seems that all you have achieved was the failed experiment they declared you."

Genesis hissed as he tried to move but the pain of whole in his chest. Maybe some of what he said struck true and I wasn't just the hole in his chest that was hurting him.

"Of course, Cloud was called that as well," Rufus said with a chuckle. "He proved them all wrong."

"That pipsqueak?" Genesis frowned.

"We are not here to talk about Cloud." Rufus said. "We are here to talk about how the hell you are even alive."

"Apparently, Tseng stopped that Cloud character from killing me," Genesis sad quickly.

The man was infuriating.

"Where were you all these years?"

Genesis shrugged. "Underground."

Reeve sucked in his breath.

"How come you are no longer degrading?" Reeve asked.

Genesis shrugged and groaned. The shrug obviously hurt him. "Damn. That kid did just about do me in, worse than when Zack skewered me."

"He learned from the best," Reeve said. "Why are you not degrading further? From our understanding, at the time you and Zack had your little tiff, you were at the end of the line."

Genesis shook his head. "Another experiment," he whispered. "It seems to have worked. I recovered with the help of my brother."

"Brother?" Reeve said in a startled tone.

Rufus raised his eyebrows.

"Who is your brother?" Rufus asked.

Genesis smirked. "A fellow SOLDIER who fell from grace, such as I." He put his hand dramatically to his head. "I am rather tried now and would like to rest further."

Rufus could see that he needed no such rest.

"Quit messing with us Genesis," Rufus said. "I am having little patience dealing with my fathers mistakes and I would say that you are one of the biggest."

Genesis scowled at him but seemed to cringe as if his wound was hurting him. He obviously did not like being criticized either. Good. He was tried of coddling all the crazy's that he was surrounded by. All of which seemed to have been cultivated by his own crazy father.

"We have you on our plate and I am really not sure I want to deal with you. Apparently, we will have your brother to deal with as well. I have a SOLDIER who was not a SOLDIER breathing down my neck. There is a boy, who is the ultimate accidental experiment of all time, with wings now, just so you know, locked up in the medical wing. I have a crazy woman that destroyed half my building had taken one of my most talented Turks and broke him. I have a half-crazed woman degrading in a prison just waiting to die and waiting for her son to die. Did I miss anything in this crazy plot?" Rufus said.

Genesis looked at him and blinked. "You forgot about Lore," he said in a whisper. "The reason I am here."

"Why are you here for Lore?" Reeve said simply.

"Because he is mine," Genesis said simply. "I wanted to take him with me, but he won't leave his stupid sister of his." The tone changed to a bit of anger. "He is a grown man now and he doesn't need to be coddled by that crazy sister of his anymore."

Rufus tilted his head back. "You want him to leave his family?"

Genesis nodded.

"All we need is each other," he said and his eyes fluttered. Apparently their interview was over. Blood bloomed across the bandage that was across his chest. He dropped the old copy of loveless and groaned. "We don't need those that pretend to be our families."

Rufus shook his head. "We will deal with your psychosis later," he said nodding to Reeve. "I have enough of this. It is getting us nowhere."

Genesis looked like he was having trouble breathing.

He left the room, as other people entered.

He wanted to talk to Tseng.

To Be Continued…

Next chapter will be more interesting.