Rufus

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy

No one ever considered the small blond boy that hid behind his rather large father. Yet there was no mistake that he was always there. Watching. Taking in. Always there. Always silent. There had never been a time that he was absent from his father's side at meetings or other important business transactions. His bodyguards could attest to that. It never seemed to matter if the boy was holding back coughs that seemed to be deathly sick or if he was five feet away from his peers watching them play. This was Rufus ShinRa and he did not have time to associate himself with the likes of other children, he had a company to run in the future and knowing the rules to a game of tag was not going to help him.

Tseng could remember meeting the young ShinRa heir for the first time. It was a moment in his life that he would never forget. When ShinRa had contacted him to tell him that he needed a bodyguard for his son Tseng never expected to be meeting the boy in a cemetery. But there he was. Standing alone in the middle of a large field, even though Rufus didn't act like a normal boy his age, at least from what Tseng had heard, standing in the middle of a cemetery on an overcast day couldn't be healthy for the boy.

So Tseng did what any other normal grown man would do. He left his car idling along with the other guards on the road and walked up to the boy. Rufus stood there in a tailored suit that probably cost more than Tseng's car holding a bouquet of blood red roses in one hand. He looked up as he heard footsteps and Tseng caught the fleeting hopeful look on the small boy's face before it turned into monotone nothingness again.

He would never forget the look, for Rufus would never show it again. It would be years later when Rufus would be sitting in Tseng's office drunk, that the blond would tell Tseng why he had looked hopeful. The child in him had thought that his father was actually coming to his mother's funeral.

Surprisingly enough the one man that witnessed Rufus ShinRa break down was not any of the Turks or bodyguards that usually adorned the halls of the ShinRa floors, but Sephiroth.

The General had gone back to his office after a late meeting and had not expected anyone to be in the building much less the surrounding floors. It was very late at night and he was looking forward to relaxing in his apartment where he didn't have to deal with any pompous asses that thought they knew how to lead his SOLDIERS better than he did. There was a reason that he was appointed the General but they couldn't seem to grasp that, it had made for a very difficult meeting. The only good thing about the meeting was that Genesis had been there along with Angeal and they had both prevented him from ripping off the head of the man disagreeing with him.

Sephiroth glanced at the papers on his desk and decided that they could be put off till tomorrow, he deserved a night of peace anyway. Grabbing his trench coat off the back of his chair Sephiroth locked his office and walked down the dark hallway. He supposed the dark might be frightening to some, the hallways had long shadows caused by the light coming in from the outside, but being afraid by the dark was a joke to him. He didn't believe in ghosts either; if you were dead why on earth would you choose to come back to this hell?

The tall man walked gracefully down the hall immersed in his thoughts, but still oh so fully aware of his surroundings. And it was because he was so fully aware that he heard it. At first the noise had been a light tap, he dismissed it to be a creature crawling around, but then as he got closer to the other side of the floor the noise grew in volume. There was something to be said for Sephiroth's hearing, if he wasn't as enhanced as he was he probably wouldn't have heard it. A light sniffle that developed into almost silent sobbing.

The General frowned. Who would be crying in the ShinRa building this late at night? To get this high up you had to have either an exclusive pass or you had to be an executive. Sephiroth, for the life of him, could not imagine any person with clearance to be crying. It was simply impossible, perhaps it was one of the cleaning crew? That couldn't be though, they had already left hours ago. Then who…?

Making up his mind and changing direction Sephiroth walked towards the noise and peered through the lightly open door. Ah, of course. He had been mistaken. There was still one person that still had a heart in this whole damned operation, one person that could still cry. The son of the devil: Rufus ShinRa.

Sephiroth had personally dealt with the small boy only a handful of times, he didn't have enough experience with the boy to say that he knew him but there was definitely something a little cold about the blond boy. Sephiroth had watched from afar as the boy grew up surrounded by corruption and hate. It had probably been a sad day in his life when his mother, the only positive thing in his life, had died. But he hadn't seen the boy cry then, there had been no hint of tears on the fateful day and Sephiroth had checked. So that begged the question: what happened today? Why was the most powerful and rich young boy in the continent crying alone in an office?

Sephiroth knew that if Angeal was here he would know what to do. After all he had that puppy to practice on didn't he? Sephiroth wasn't good for situations like these. Should he leave the boy and pretend that he never saw? Would that be considered tactful? Or should he, and Sephiroth grimaced at the thought, comfort him even if he didn't know how? The thought of calling Angeal to deal with the situation came to him but he dismissed it, the other man was probably asleep, even though Sephiroth knew that he would come if called. So…What to do, what to do.

He wondered if it would be possible to treat this like a battle plan. Go in, take the enemy out, and go home. Hah, that was a ridiculous thought…Or not. All he had to do was walk in the room, offer to dispose of whatever was bothering the boy and leave. There. And it wouldn't be on his conscience either.

Without further thinking about it, Sephiroth strode into the office of the ShinRa heir and waited while the comical reaction he received was over. Rufus had noticed him after about ten seconds and had immediately begun to wipe up tears and pull himself together. Seconds later he asked if there was something he could help the general with. As if he hadn't just been sobbing his eyes out. As if his ever impeccable suit wasn't rumpled. As if his eyes weren't rimmed red. As if his soft boyish voice wasn't hoarse.

After going back and forth because Rufus reused to admit that anything was bothering him and that he had been crying, Sephiroth finally won out. Funnily enough, all it had taken was the threat that he would invite Tseng into the office and let the Turk make him tell what was wrong and the truth came out.

Sephiroth listened for a little over half an hour silently as Rufus ShinRa broke down in front of him and spilled his guts. Frankly Sephiroth had been surprised that a boy could have so many things on his mind. Why was the pre-teen worrying about taxes and mako injections anyway? And why did it matter to him if Sector four was currently undergoing construction? What did it concern him if there was a shortage of people in sector five where it had been rumors that monsters were lurking? Sephiroth knew he didn't have a normal childhood but from what he had gathered from Angeal and Genesis this wasn't normal either. In fact, and he had a feeling that this was true, if any psychologist was placed in the room right now he would most positively say that this young boy was mentally afflicted. A pre-teen shouldn't even know much less care about the diplomatic issues concerning Wutai.

And then finally when he thought all hope for the boy was lost there came a sane reason. Some man had made him feel uncomfortable for 20 minutes before Tseng got to him. In that time the man had lightly molested him and possibly mentally tormented the boy.

He just wouldn't leave me alone. And I couldn't do anything because father said that we need his power to help for the Missal project. I just wish he left me alone.

And there it was. The one bit of information that Sephiroth needed to take care of the boy's problem and let his own conscience rest. After listening to the boy for half an hour it had paid off. Sephiroth would take care of the lecherous pervert and then they would move on and pretend that this never happened.

50 hours. It had been 50 hours since Rufus ShinRa had slept or even laid his head down and everyone knew it. Rude knew this personally because he and Cissnei had been switching on and off guarding the boy and neither of them had seen him so much as yawn.

It was the annual Come To ShinRa Headquarters And Prepare To Be Amazed But In Actuality Bullshited week and the young ShinRa heir had found himself unprepared for all the responsibilities thrust upon him by his father. However the sudden increase in his daily schedule did not faze him, after all he was a ShinRa and no it didn't matter if he was still human things needed to get done on time and that was all there was to it so would Tseng please stop bothering him? Rude had watched, for five hour intervals, as Rufus made phone calls, ordered people around, did endless amounts of paperwork, went all over the compound to fix mistakes, and was finally getting into a suit in preparation to meet and greet the guests. It had been 50 hours since the teenager had slept and now he was going out to throw himself at the mercy of skeptical men, cynical share holders, and eager paparazzi. It was, in short, suicide.

The three Turks in the room watched as the young teen glanced at his outfit in the mirror and picked up the tie from the bed. Rude watched as Rufus smiled at Tseng and then said,

"I don't suppose you're mad enough to not put this on correctly for me? It would be a terrible inconvenience."

Rude and Alexei, the other Turk in the room, watched as Tseng gave a slight smile and moved forward taking the tie out of Rufus's hands. Then he pulled an object out of his pocket and tossed it to the heir.

"Only if you do me a favor first."

Curious, the three other occupants in the room looked at the object and found it to be a SOLDIER bar. Rufus's nose wrinkled slightly then went back to its ever present neutral.

"Of all things Tseng, you couldn't just get me a banana could you?"

"This will help you more"

"Yeah, but it tastes like shi- very bad, remind me to look into this afterwards and change SOLDIER meals."

"Of course"

Tseng fastened the tie on Rufus's slender neck and watched the boy finish off the rest of the bar. Tossing the wrapper into a small trash bin the ShinRa complained,

"Even the after taste is horrid"

Tseng just hummed in seeming agreement and started guiding the boy towards the door. Rude and Alexei immediately followed and then Tseng's phone rang. Frowning, the man pulled it out of his jacket and glancing at the caller ID immediately answered. He waved a hand at the group, motioning that he would catch up eventually.

Rufus started for the door again, grumbling under his breath about the bar he had been forced to choke down and over his head Rude's and Alexei's eyes met in amusement. Then Rude had an epiphany, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tube.

"Boss"

Rufus glanced up in curiosity, for it was very rare that any of his Turks, besides Tseng, talked to him.

"Yes?"

Rude held out his hand and curiously the small blond reached forward to accept whatever object he had. Rude dropped the tube of lifesavers into Rufus's hand and watched as a smile spread across the previously confused features.

"Thanks Rude" And for the first time in two days the young ShinRa laughed. So it wasn't a three course dinner. So it wasn't a bed where Rufus could rest until the ache went away. But it was something that he cherished more: the knowledge that someone cared.

Unfortunately all the knowledge in the world couldn't save Rufus from his own father. At first it had been little things, done in private where no one could see that anything was happening. Then it progressed to bruised hands where the older ShinRa had grabbed his slight son with harsh force. And finally it was open abuse, open in terms of in front of their trusted bodyguards. ShinRa had a reputation too keep up after all.

It never failed to make Tseng's blood boil when he saw a bruise forming on the edge of Rufus's neck or arms. It never failed to make Rude's eyes harden at the sight of ShinRa backhanding his own son because of some slight mistake done. It never failed to make Reno grit his teeth tightly when he saw the young ShinRa brush away tears as if they were worth nothing. It never failed to make Cissnei's eyes sad when she saw Rufus laugh off an injury.

But they were Turks. They were known for their silence and acceptance. They were known for their deadly efficiency and their ability to get the job done no matter what. They were known for patching up their ShinRa and sending him back out again where the only real monster that would hurt him was his own father.

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