Chapter 23: Portable Mako Cannon

The first thing Reno was able to register when he became conscious was the fact that most the pain he'd remembered passing out to was gone. The next thing he knew, he could hear a couple voices conversing. They sounded vaguely familiar but his sleeping mind just couldn't manage to put two and two together.

Finally he was able to get his eyes opened and slowly shifted them so he could see who it was. On the other side of the room, he managed to see the young bald Turk sitting up in his bed occasionally answering the girl sitting on the edge of his bed. Nina.

"You should really let your hair grow out," she was murmuring, as she lightly touched his bald head. "I think you'd really draw in quite the crowd you know. Girls won't be able to resist you."

"Nina, I'm not growing my hair out," Rude sighed though he didn't brush off her light touches. Instead he fixed her with a curious stare, his sunglasses still missing from his face. "How long have you been here?"

"Only an hour," she answered after a few moments of silence. She'd pulled her hand away and was now staring at the bed; her useless legs lying across it next to him. "They showed me where I'll be staying and then allowed me to come see you."

He nodded slowly and wrapped an arm around her shoulder pulling her against him. "I'm glad you're alright," he expressed slowly.

"Me?! You were shot!" she exclaimed pulling away from him to fix her scolding glare on him. "I don't know what I'd do if I knew you hadn't made it out alive. You and Reno."

At her words, Rude glanced over at Reno's bed and said redhead quickly shut his eyes. He didn't want them to know he was awake...not yet anyway. "As long as you survived it wouldn't matter," the bald Turk muttered darkly.

Nina glared at him before poking him in the forehead. "Of course it would matter," she corrected. "Not only would it affect me, but it would affect the people you work with, and it would affect mom. I know she doesn't want to admit it, but we depend on the money you send back. I wouldn't be here, going to school, if it weren't for you." Then she reached over and pinched him in the arm until he jerked it away in pain. "You're not allowed to get yourself killed, got it?"

He glared at her for a moment before letting loose another sigh and nodding his consent. At this she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck before she glanced back over to the other occupied bed.

"Reno...is going to be alright, isn't he?" she asked worriedly.

Rude nodded. "The doctors said he'd recover quickly," he answered knowing she really was worried about him. "Though they don't know for sure when he'll wake up."

Nina's mouth turned down into a sad frown at this. She really worried about Reno and didn't want to see him in his unconscious state any longer. After a time, Reno caved to his desire and started shifting grabbing the other two occupants of the room's attention. Then finally he opened his eyes more fully and started trying to sit up. Unfortunately he found this to be a lot more draining than he originally expected.

"Reno..." Nina murmured worriedly.

"Ugh, all this shit is really restricting," he grumbled pulling slightly on the wires and IV's that were stuck to him. Then he glanced over at the two and grinned his cheeky grin ignoring the pain in his cheeks. "But don't worry, I'm still in one piece."

Nina glanced at her brother and he simply shrugged signaling that he wouldn't blame her for moving over to see how the redhead was doing. She quickly shifted herself off the bed and back into her wheelchair before rolling over to Reno's bed and getting a good look at him. "How are you feeling?" she asked cautiously.

"Hmm..." Reno thought about his answer trying to decide if he should go with teasing, honest, or pain in the ass. He settled on the first. "Well, I won't be able to participate in one of my favorite activities thanks to these ribs, but I think I'll draw in a lot more attention with these scars." He pointed first at his torso, then at his cheeks as he spoke and then grinned. "After all, the chicks love a man with scars. Right, Nina?"

"You really are too much some days, Reno," she sighed shaking her head, but the smile on her face told him he did well.

He glanced over at Rude and could see the warning glare in the man's eyes. Somehow he liked the sunglasses better. At least then he didn't have to feel overly guilty when he saw the more accurate look in the older man's eyes.

"Eh, what can I say," he replied to her comment. He really didn't know what else to say at that moment as everything that came to mind would probably upset her brother even more.

"Reno, what'd they do to you?" she asked after a time of silence. She reached up to touch the bandages on his cheeks and he quickly caught her hands.

"It's nothing really," he told her quickly. "I just...I just underestimated them a bit. See after you headed off to the bar I had to jump into the fray and keep all the baddies off Rude. Then while I was fighting, one guy got off a couple good shots, but they only skimmed across my cheeks."

He could see Rude out of the corner of his eyes shaking his head in mild amusement while Nina simply smiled at him. He was sure she didn't fully believe him but she at least was allowing him to have his moment of sounding cool.

"That sounds like you had things under control pretty well," she commented. "I'm glad to know it wasn't anything worse."

Then she reached over and lightly hugged him so as not to aggravate his ribs. Rude turned his head when she did this so as not to become too angry toward the redhead. He knew Nina had been really worried about him and felt guilty that he'd been the thing that was traded for her safety. He also had to mentally applaud Reno for coming up with some way of admitting he'd been hurt without alerting Nina to the full danger he'd actually been in.

After a moment Reno released her and pulled away with his grin in tact. "So, how'd the visit with my buddy go?" he asked curiously. "He wasn't too upset I sent you there was he?"

"Not at all," Nina answered easily leaning back in her chair and relaxing now that she knew the both of them were alright. "He was very sweet and just chatted with me until I fell asleep."

"Good to hear," Reno sighed in relief. "Then again you may be too young for his tastes anyway. Good thing too."

"What, were you expecting him to try something?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, considering he's kind of the one that taught me all my moves it wouldn't have surprised me," Reno answered with a shrug. "But he generally aims for chicks who're already too drunk to care." He knew he was saying more than he should, but a part of him was hoping that Nina would see that he wasn't the type of guy she wanted to be with and decide to ditch him. It would be better for her after all.

Rude was about to comment on the conversation but stopped when two people walked in. One was Alistair, and he was thrilled to see the two of them awake. The other was Cissnei. "Hey, Nina," she greeted casually. "It's about time for these two to have some tests run on them so we should probably leave them to it."

Nina agreed reluctantly and quickly gave both boys a hug before leaving. As soon as she was gone Rude chucked his food tray at the redhead who shielded his head with his arm. "Ouch! What the hell man?"

"You never mentioned that friend was a womanizer," Rude growled.

"He's not as bad as I was saying he was," Reno protested. "Seriously. I was just trying to get her...never mind."

Rude raised an eyebrow at this and Alistair chose that moment to step in between them and address the bald Turk. "Well, the docs are calling for you to get an X-ray so you should probably head out with these lovely nurses and get that finished."

Rude nodded silently before allowing the nurses to load him into a wheelchair and push him out the door. Alistair waited until they were gone before turning on Reno and giving him a sidelong look. "What? Are you upset that I irked Rude when he was still recovering?" Reno demanded defensively.

"Hardly," Alistair muttered grabbing a chair, spinning it around and sitting on it the wrong way. "I was actually more curious as to what you were saying you were trying to get from her."

Reno glowered at him for a moment before staring at the bed covers before him. Slowly, despite his best efforts, his hands began to clench over the blankets, bunching them up. "Just tell me how pissed you are about what I did to your golden boy," he muttered darkly.

"What you did to Rude?" Alistair asked raising an eyebrow once more. "Kid, you saved his life. You pulled him out of that building when you yourself were about ready to keel over and you came up with a way to save his sister. What do I have to be pissed about?"

"I almost got him killed," Reno answered. "Twice. First time I was being too stubborn and they nearly took his head off before I finally agreed to fix that fucking machine. The second time I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and got him shot."

"I see, so that's what happened," Alistair murmured in understanding. He pulled his chair closer to the bed and reached up to touch the bandage on the redhead's cheek. "I take it this was Hsing's handy work then?"

"No...Karen's. For one of them at least," Reno grumbled. "The other was some fucker we met on our way out."

"I see..."Alistair took a few moments to observe the redhead before moving on to what he'd been wanting to say. "Look, kid. Rude doesn't blame you for anything that happened last night. If anything he feels it's his own fault for making contact with his sister. That and all he sees is that you were willing to fix that machine to save his life, and you managed to drag his dead weight out that door so we could help. He feels he owes you Reno."

Reno continued to stare at the bed thinking over the larger Turk's words. He couldn't see it like that though. "You don't get it. Had I left the city after killing Reuel they would never have known I was Larry's pupil and that machine would never have been fixed. If I hadn't allowed myself to get attached to Nina she wouldn't have been targeted. They knew Rude wouldn't simply throw me to the dogs just for his sister. Not after everything you'd done to stop them. So they made sure it was someone I was attached to as well so that I'd agree to sacrifice myself for them. They took Nina not just because of her relationship with Rude, but because I was attached to her."

Alistair sighed, reached up, and smacked Reno upside the head. He yelped and glared at the Turk while the other just waited. "Ya done bitchin' yet?" he asked after a few moments of silent glaring. "You had no way of knowing any of this shit would happen kid. What happened happened and none of that is going to change. All you can do is look at the stuff you did right."

He waited while Reno's glare turned contemplative. "What...exactly do you mean?"

"It's like I said kid. You risked your friend's safety to save Nina, which worked. You caved to their demands to save Rude. While none of us are pleased you fixed it we are glad you saved him. Plus, despite the fact you could barely stand and were bleedin' out you figured out how to clear out that building and got Rude to us in time to save him and you."

Reno blushed slightly at this. He still didn't agree that he'd done things right, but hearing what he'd accomplished laid out for him like that did make him feel a little better. "Thanks."

"Just, next time the two of you decide to pull something like that, you let me know so you don't have to do it alone," Alistair added sternly.

Reno nodded and leaned against his headboard. It definitely felt better knowing he wasn't in trouble, but he couldn't shake the feeling of guilt over everything he'd caused. "So, what happened with that machine?"

"Beats me. Tseng and Talli tried to stop Hsing and Karen from taking it from that building, but it was built too well. They couldn't scratch the damn thing."

"Well, it is coated with Mythril," Reno mumbled lightly.

"Figured it was something like that." Reno started trying to remember everything that he could about the machine and the blueprints for it. He hoped that somewhere in his memory lay the key to defeating that thing and that he could recall it before it was too late. "Reno, before we get any farther I need you to answer something for me." Reno paused and glanced up at the Turk. "Your actions last night told me you're more than ready, heck more than qualified to be a part of our team. What do you say?"

Reno looked at him and opened his mouth but nothing came out. If he was completely honest he'd have to say at this point he wouldn't mind. Heck, his adventure with Rude was more fun than he'd had in years and a part of him really wanted the chance to do stuff like that more often...minus the whole dying thing anyway.

But then he thought about the letter his guardian had left behind and he found himself drawn more toward that plan than this one. "I-I can't," he said after a few moments of silence.

"Can't...or won't?"

"Take your pick," Reno shot back. He wasn't too happy with his decision, but he felt it was best. How could he willingly join the pricks that allowed Shady Larry to die?

"I thought you might say that," Alistair sighed. "So I've a few things to settle with you."

Reno looked up again, this time his expression was trying to be a glare, but it came off as more apologetic. "What?"

"First off, since you're not a Turk I can't let you get involved in this case more than you already have," the large Turk stated firmly. Reno opened his mouth to argue but he held up his hand to stop him. "Fact is you're a civilian, and although your information was very useful I cannot allow you to continue working with us as now it's just a matter of fighting that thing."

"But I can help you figure out how to beat it!" Reno exclaimed sitting up quickly and ignoring the pain that shot through his ribs. "I'm the one that fixed it so I should be the one to wipe it out!"

Alistair just waited for Reno's rant to finish before continuing on. "Secondly, since you no longer have a use for the enemy or us, as soon as you're healed up you're free to go," he said. Then almost as an afterthought, he reached over and removed the earring. "There, you won't be needing that any more."

Reno reached a hand up to his ear and felt the hole that was left behind by the earring. He was really free...but somehow he didn't quite feel it. "So...what am I supposed to do then?"

"That's up to you kid," Alistair said honestly. "You can go back to the slums and find work on your own, or you can take my letter of recommendation and a flight out to Junon and join the flight academy. Point is, from here on out you plot your own course."

After this he got to his feet and started heading for the door. "You have a couple days before you're released from the medical ward, but you still won't be fully healed. So at that point you'll be roomin' with Rude again. Just know that you only have until you're fully healed to decide what you want to do next. After that you're out of here whether you made a decision or not." He paused at the door and turned to look him over. "Oh, and don't even think about looking for Hsing. Your record my be wiped out, but if we find you chasin' that bastard we'll throw you in jail...for your own good."

With that he left and Reno went back to staring at the blanket before him. He'd never really thought about what he wanted to do with his life. He honestly expected to make his money by delivering crap for Shady Larry...at least until he'd become an adult. Now though, he wasn't sure he wanted to go back to that house. Too many painful memories. How was he supposed to decide?

One week of recovery and Reno was starting to get stressed out. His ribs were halfway healed meaning at most he had a week of recovery left to figure out what to do with his life.

By this time he'd been allowed to move back in with Rude rather than staying in the medical ward and without the earring on he'd finally been allowed to go where he wanted when he wanted...at least on that floor. He still wasn't allowed to go through the rest of the building on his own since he'd need to have a key card of his own. He was able to go to and from the TK as much as he wanted, though, which helped with the boredom.

It could do nothing to ease the rising stress felt by every Turk in the building, however, as yet another day passed without any sign of Hsing, Karen, or the weapon they possessed. There was no telling when or where they would strike and everyone was feeling the stress of waiting.

Reno was trying to ignore it and focus on what he was going to do when Rude entered their room halfway through the second week of recovery. "Hey, buddy, where ya been?" Reno asked looking up at him from his bed. He'd been watching TV and muted it when the bald Turk walked in.

"We were having a meeting," Rude answered lowly as he dropped onto his bed. He was obviously exhausted.

"What about?" Reno asked turning over on his bed. "Or is that classified?"

"Classified," Rude answered simply. He sat up enough to look at the redhead and flinched when he turned at just the right angle.

"Still bugging you?" Reno asked casually.

"A little," Rude admitted. "I've been permitted to resume training...but I'm still on hiatus from missions."

"Man that's gotta suck," Reno sighed. "But at least you've got me to keep you from getting bored. Rude raised an eyebrow at this and the redhead laughed flinching slightly as he did so.

Rude didn't miss the flinch and took special note of the empty hole on the boy's earlobe, and the scabs on his cheeks that were quickly turning into scars thanks to the potions. Both signs of what he'd been forced to endure after being brought into the Turks, something he never had a choice over. "Have you decided...what you're going to do next?"

The question made Reno pause and stare at the floor. He didn't answer at first but after a time he leaned back on the bed and started staring at the ceiling instead. "Naw...ain't gotta clue," he answered reluctantly. "Until Goatman told me what his plans were I hadn't really thought about the future. I figured that I'd be a delivery boy for Shady Larry until I got bored of it and went from there."

Rude looked him over trying to decide if he was being sincere or not, then he wondered what to do about it. Over the time the redhead had spent with them, Rude had to admit he'd grown on him, and he didn't want to see the boy end up back in the squalor of the slums if he had other options.

"Well...basically I can go back to my old house or go to flight school," Reno muttered after a time. He really didn't want to admit to Rude he'd been offered a position there...especially since he'd already declined it twice. "Any suggestions?"

"Flight school," Rude said immediately. Reno gave him a look surprised by his automatic answer.

"Why's that?"

"It's your dream...isn't it?" Rude answered, covering up his real reason.

"Eh, not particularly," Reno admitted with a shrug. "It's something I'd thought about, and honestly the idea of flying one of those choppers is awesome, but really it was something my old man brought up a few times. I even found out he'd been planning on shipping me out before he died. He thought I'd do well there or something."

"He's probably right," Rude pointed out. "You're good...you were able to fly a chopper on your first try."

"True, though I really screwed up where the weapons were," Reno acknowledged with a laugh. "I just can't seem to figure out if that's really what I want to do with the rest of my life, ya know."

"Then don't," Rude grumbled. Reno looked at him in confusion. "You never struck me as the pick something to do forever type. So, go, try it out for awhile. If you don't like it or get bored, quit and move on to the next thing."

Reno sat up and stared at his roommate trying to figure out how he felt over the suggestion. "Are you telling me to just go and try a bunch of crap until I find something that sticks?" he asked curiously.

Rude shrugged. "Didn't you want to travel the world?" he asked. Reno nodded slowly. "Then do it. See the world, try stuff out, find what you want to do. You're still 15, you've got time to figure it out."

Reno grinned despite himself and layed back with his hands behind his head relaxing. "Yeah, that might just do it," he agreed. "Heck, I'd probably have a blast doin' it too. Traveling the world, bedding women in every city..." He glanced over and saw the deep frown on Rude's face. "What? I'm a guy alright. I can't help it if I like the ladies. Don't worry though, I get it, your sister is off limits."

Rude wanted to say something more on the matter but decided to drop it. Reno had been good about not doing anything around his sister and he had to admit he was willing to trust his word. Just then the two were startled as Rude's phone started going off. He sighed and answered it tiredly.

The moment he greeted the other person, his face became rigid and he stood silently listening to the other side. A few moments later he released an "I understand" and hung up. Reno stared at him seriously sensing that something was wrong and Rude knew he had to tell him.

"Hsing's begun his attack."

Reno shot up, ignoring the pain in his side as he did so. "He's attacking now?! Where? Is he using the cannon?" Rude shook his head signaling he wasn't going to say anything more on the matter. "Does this mean you're heading out?"

"No...I'm to wait here just in case."

"You mean you're here to watch me," Reno grumbled crossing his arms in mild irritation. It was rather obvious why they'd keep Rude there. To allow him more time to heal and to keep him, Reno, out of it.

"You will be staying here," the bald Turk stated firmly.

Reno sighed in frustration knowing he would have no way to actually fight the larger man in his current state. He really would have to stay put. As he thought about the cannon and all the Turks fighting against it an idea came to mind. Quickly he moved over to Rude's desk, pulled out a blank piece of paper and a pencil and began drawing something.

"What are you doing?" Rude asked cautiously.

"I just realized something," the redhead muttered distractedly. "The last week or so I've been so focused on what I'm going to do next that I forgot about that thing entirely. His attack made me think over what I'd seen again and I wanted to see if there was a way of breaking it without needing to get too close or go through the mythril coating."

Rude was a little surprised by this, but he stood by patiently knowing that getting too close to the redhead would irritate him. Ten minutes later the boy stopped and began scanning his own work thoughtfully. "Well..." Rude asked realizing he wasn't going to get anything if he didn't ask.

"There are two points on this thing I'd used in order to fix it in the first place," Reno grumbled as he continued to scan. "I know they weren't connected to anything and that's great for keeping it from being started in the first place, but it doesn't help anything once it's started up...unless..."

He suddenly stood up holding the paper before him, his eyes going wide. "This could work," he almost whispered in amazement. "How could I not see this before? Rude we've got to get down there." With that he spun around and started making his way to the door.

Before he could pull it open though, Rude's hand came down on it keeping it closed. "You're in no condition and neither am I," he growled. "Just tell me what it is and I'll send it to them."

"It won't work like that," Reno replied shaking his head. "This isn't something I can just explain and expect to be understood. You'd have to know exactly what this thing looks like, and I don't mean through description. Description alone won't help. I'd have to know exactly what they were seeing in the moment and physically point it out."

"And how do you plan on doing any of this?" Rude demanded. "You can't even walk right without twitching in pain."

"I'll be fine," Reno shot back. "Look. I promise that when we get down there we'll find Alistair or someone. I'll point out the flaw they can exploit and then pull back to wait for the fireworks. But we have to get down there before it's too late."

Rude hesitated for several reasons, but eventually he conceded that the redhead was probably right and opened the door himself. "Fine, but you do as I order," he conditioned.

"Whatever, let's just go already," Reno replied dashing down the hallway as quickly as his still damaged ribs would allow.

"All set. Rude is going to be watching the boy," Haruto murmured as he closed his phone.

He, Cissnei, George, Alistair, Tseng, Talli and Veld were all remaining hidden in one of the many alleyways of the sector 3 slums. They had gotten word that Hsing was finally making his move and were now watching in secret as the portable cannon moved through the streets surrounded by Wutain forces who were keeping it protected.

"Good, we can't have him rushing in and getting himself killed," Veld muttered as he continued to watch the procession.

"Now we can focus on what's in front of us," Alistair agreed.

"Haruto, you and Cissnei need to find Karen," Veld ordered quickly. "We won't be able to move if she has her rifle trained on us. Talli and Tseng, you need to locate Hsing. Once you do keep him in sight until I give the signal. He'll be your responsibility." The four of them all nodded in understanding. "George, once we've received word that Karen is either defeated or at least distracted, you will join Alistair and I in taking out that thing. You'll be taking up position on the other side of the street. Alistair, take up a position behind it and I'll stay ahead of it."

George and Alistair nodded in acceptance and waited for any last orders. Veld took a look around one last time before signaling that they were free to go. Once the orders were given, everyone headed out to the locations they were ordered to and waited to hear the sniper had been taken out.

It took about twenty minutes for Veld to receive a call from Cissnei alerting them to the fact they'd spooked Karen and she was currently engaged in battle with the swordsman. At which point everyone went into motion.

Alistair could see out of the corner of his eye, as Talli and Tseng attacked a group of Wutains. He assumed that meant Hsing was among them, though he couldn't see clearly. It didn't really matter though as he, George, and Veld all rushed the machine. He pulled out his blades and cut through the enemies before him making his way toward the weapon.

When he got within range, he released a level 3 demi hoping to weaken the thing while George hit it with a level 3 thunder, and Veld used a high level quake. When the dust from the joint attacks cleared, they could see the machine was still in tact and began moving down the street once more. It was trying to get closer to Shinra HQ.

Alistair wasn't about to let that happen, however, as he drew in close and struck the edge with his swords. In doing so he was able to see a very powerful barrier blocking his path. Meanwhile George had released another high level thunder and with the close proximity, the second in command could make out the distinct color of a magic barrier. Breaking through would be harder than they had anticipated.

A shot rang in his ears just as he dodged a bullet which allowed him to return to the present. He still had a lot of enemies around him and chances were they were not going to allow him to get that close again.

Alistair sliced through each opponent as they approached him as he tried to close the growing distance between himself and the machine. Then to his horror, he saw the thing start to power up, the energy gathered from dozens of materia gathering at the tip into a ball that was continuing to grow. Just before he reached it a second time, the weapon fired and every soldier in its path was destroyed. In the gathering smoke, he couldn't even tell where they'd been standing.

Alistair continued to fight off his enemy as the smoke cleared and they were able to see the path of destruction left behind. In a straight line from the machine toward the center of Midgar, there was a path of nothing. All the buildings that had been in its path were missing sections the size of the attack and a ditch a foot into the ground was left behind. Alistair knew they'd have to go looking later, but chances were there was nothing left of any of the dead soldiers.

After this display, Alistair immediately returned to the commander's side, clearing a path as he went. "Sir, with an M Barrier and a Barrier in place it'll be nearly impossible to do any damage to that thing," he told his superior as they both took shelter behind a nearby building. It was in front of the machine but far enough to the side that it had not been affected by the blast.

"I am aware," Veld responded trying to determine what the best course of action for his Turks would be. "I've ordered one of the troops to obtain a dispel materia for me. I fear that may be our only option, especially if these barriers are ingrained into the system and not handled by a human."

Alistair nodded in understanding as he looked around the corner at the machine only to pull back as their location was assaulted by gunfire. Something from his momentary peek had gotten his attention, however, so he waited, released a demi in the direction the fire had come from and peeked once more.

"What the hell are they doing?" he demanded angrily.

Veld turned to him at this exclamation and went to look for himself. He was able to make out two people making their way to the machine gingerly and without drawing too much attention. Judging by the bright red hair one of them had, he was able to determine it was Reno and Rude. "That boy better have a good reason for disobeying orders," he growled in irritation. This mission was hard enough without having to protect a citizen that was determined to get himself killed.

Alistair silently agreed as he kept watching the pair. They'd apparently managed to reach the back side of the machine and the kid started fiddling with something on the side. It must have been something important as he continued to struggle with whatever it was and even get frustrated about it, kicking the thing.

Moments later he heard the report of a rifle being fired just before someone had latched onto both boys and pulled them away from the machine. The figure didn't stop until it had reached Alistair and Veld's cover before depositing both boys roughly on the ground, making the kid cry out in pain.

"That's what you get for working with broken ribs, boy," the person growled before knocking him on the head. "What the hell did you think you were doing anyway?"

"That's my line!" Reno shouted forcing himself to stand despite the immense pain he was obviously in. "Didn't you say you wanted no part of this, Blay?"

"Yeah, and your dumbass just dragged me in," the dread head declared dropping a fist on the redhead's head once more.

"You always did have good timing, Blay," Alistair chuckled as he relaxed his guard for the moment. "The shot tells me Karen managed to get away long enough to get one off."

"Indeed," Veld agreed folding his arms as he gave Rude a rather disappointed and scolding look. "This does nothing to assist in that machine's destruction, however."

"What do you think I was doing?" Reno demanded trying hard not to flinch or hold his ribs. "There's a way to wipe it out without having to use any weapons."

"And you couldn't tell us this earlier, or over the phone why?" Alistair asked in exasperation.

"I only just figured it out and knew you wouldn't understand unless I was pointing it out directly," Reno answered in irritation.

"So tell us now then, Kid," Alistair ordered. "Once you do, you and Rude are getting as far away from this fight as you can. We don't have time to be covering both of you."

Reno glared at him but realized the Turk was right as another slight shift in his weight twinged his sore ribs. "Fine," he grumbled before moving back toward the street and pointing at the machine. "If you look on the side near the back there's a little notch. There's one on the other side too, in the same spot. All ya got to do is shift the notch into the second slot while that thing is powering up."

"So, you mean Shady Larry did the same thing with this weapon that he did with his safes?" Alistair asked astounded.

"Yeah, only this time you have to move both notches over for it to work and doing so only disengages the control panel," Reno continued to explain. "Doing so when it isn't powering up will only delay them as it's really easy to fix once you know what you're looking for."

"What happens if it's powering up?"

"It doesn't stop powering up," Reno answered easily. "It doesn't fire the shot either. This just means that it'll continuing amassing power until..."

"Until it explodes," Veld guessed. "You mean to turn it into a bomb."

"Basically. But if you've got any other ideas of destroying it now be my guest," Reno scoffed.

"How long would you have until it exploded?" Alistair asked thinking it all over carefully.

"Depends on when the last notch it shifted," Reno answered with a pained shrug. "The closer it is to firing the less time you've got though."

"So, basically you have between the cannon powering up and it firing to disengage both notches and get out," Alistair murmured.

"Yeah, but now it's only one," Reno told him cheekily. "I managed to shift one of them before Blay here dragged me off. Which really hurt by the way you bastard."

"So...we have about 40 seconds between when it starts and when it fires to get the other switched and run," Alistair murmured and nodded. "Sir, I'll handle the shift."

"Very well," Veld said with a nod. "I'll make sure George and the others keep their distance while giving you cover."

"Thank you."

"Hold on! How the hell do you expect to get it shifted over?" Reno demanded. "For one thing those notches are stuck. It took forever for me just to get the one out. For another you don't even know what you're looking for!"

"It's a notch on the side of a machine. I'm sure I can locate the irregularity," Alistair responded waving Reno's worry out the window. "Besides that, I'm a lot stronger than you and I'm not injured so moving it should be much easier."

"I think he means that the notch is actually camouflaged, which is why he couldn't alert you to it before hand," Blay guessed finally putting in his two cents. Reno nodded and grinned at Blay, pleased the old man understood. "Which means unless you know what Larry would have marked it with or have seen the notches once already you would have no idea what to look for."

"Exactly!" Reno exclaimed. "But now that you're here Blay I won't have to explain what it looks like." Blay raised an eyebrow at this and Reno just grinned some more. "It's Larry's favorite way to mark something important."

Blay took a moment to think it over before nodding. "I understand," he then grabbed a hold of Reno and put him face first into the ground. Then he quietly whispered, "I'm sure you have questions about how I know this Turk. I can see it in your eyes. Just wait here until the fight is over. I'll explain it all then, if the Turks don't kill me first."

With that he got to his feet and turned to face the two higher ranked Turks. Behind him he could hear Rude helping Reno into a seated position and feel the redhead's glare on the back of his neck.

"So, why don't I do the switch," Blay suggested as he pulled out a large metal club that was shaped like a bat. "I'll be in and out and this way you won't have to risk one of your own."

Veld seemed keen on agreeing to this, though he was clearly not happy that Blay was there at all. "No dice, buddy," Alistair replied shaking his head. "I get it if you'll be able to find that thing better than me, but I ain't lettin' you go out there on your own."

Blay smirked at this and shook his head as he swung his bat experimentally. "Just like old times then?"

"Naturally." Alistair chuckled at the exchange knowing the dread head was thinking the same thing he was.

Then before any complaints could be made by either his commander or the panting redhead, the two old friends shot out into the mess of firing weapons, making it to the side in record time. Very quickly they reached the side Reno had not touched yet and Blay started looking for the supposed symbol. Alistair on the other hand, had pulled out his hand gun and was blasting enemies right and left to keep any attacks from reaching them.

As the two worked, the weapon began firing up once more and Alistair started counting knowing they didn't have much time. "Don't mean to hurry you, but the clock is ticking," he called out to his friend as he dropped a small group to the ground with demi, where they were finished off by Veld.

"I've found it, but the blasted thing won't budge," Blay grunted as he tried with all his might just to get the thing to inch in the right direction. "The brat wasn't joking."

Alistair fired off a few more rounds as he glanced back at his friend just in time to see a sniper's bullet tear through the bar owner's shoulder leaving the arm completely useless. "Shit, Blay!" Alistair exclaimed rushing to his friend's side and helping him sit down as blood poured onto the ground. "We've got to get you out. We don't have the time to finish it now."

He tried to lift the injured man only to be stopped by said man. "Look, we can't let this one fire," Blay gasped through his pain.

Alistair looked to where his friend had been pointing and could see that directly in the weapon's current path were Reno, Rude and Veld. Reno was standing with help from Rude watching them move. Worry was etched all over his face as he saw the weapon's cannon continue to grow closer to the firing time. Alistair knew in that moment, he had to get that notch over even if the two of them couldn't get away.

He immediately found the notch that his friend had been fiddling with and realized it was only a small nudge away from being in place. The large Turk started pushing on it not feeling it shift at all before reeling back and kicking it until he heard it snap into place.

In the instant after that snap, he looked down at his friend and mouthed "First drink's on you."

Blay caught it and nodded weakly and the two grinned as the machine blew apart into a massive ball of flames swallowing the two friends and engulfing a good 15 feet in all directions. In the space where two Turks were taking cover, the young redhead felt the bottom of his stomach drop and his chest erupt in pain. And a scream tore its way out of his straining throat.

"BLAY!"

Shippoman: ...losing someone is never easy. Next chapter, Reno has to come to terms with everything as his world comes crashing in around him. Don't miss it. Please remember to R&R. ;P

CM: Thanks for staying with us for so long.