Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square Enix. I do not own any of the characters except OCs.

"I think this should be our song, Baby. What do you say?" Reno asked the skinny blonde sitting next to him at the bar. She giggled and cuddled closer to him, pulling his cigarette from between his lips and kissing him deeply before taking a deep drag from it herself. He sat there, enjoying the lingering taste of the martini on her lips and staring at the low cut of her V-neck tanktop, wondering just how long it would take him to get it off of her once they got home.

"I think you're too hot for me to care what else is going on right now," she said in a seductive whisper, trailing her fingers along the side of his face and down his neck. "Why don't we take this party back to your place, hmm?"

"Thought you'd never ask, yo."

In what seemed no more than a second later, the two of them were in his bedroom. She started to unbutton his shirt, he reached for the highest, weakest button of her tanktop, and –

"OOF!"

The sensation of being punched in the stomach woke Reno with a start, and he cursed as he pushed the largest of his four cats, Luther, off of his chest and ignored the indignant "mew" he got in response. After he caught his breath, he noticed that there was metal music screeching loudly in his ear. It took him a moment to figure out where the music was coming from, and once he did he snatched his cell phone off of the nightstand with a groan. The letters were blurry in his sleep-filled eyes, but he could still make out the time and the caller I.D.: 3:28 a.m., Rufus ShinRa. Damn. And it had been such a good dream, too. He flipped the phone open, remembering not to curse aloud, and answered it in a slurring drawl.

"This's Reno, Sir."

"Reno…? I… I need your help…" Reno sat up instantly, all traces of sleep disappearing from his face. That quiet uncertainty in Rufus's voice had spread a cold fear through his veins. His boss was never anything but cool and calm, not even when he was being forced to talk to his Turks through the phone with a knife held to his throat. There was something going on right now that he truly did not know how to handle; otherwise, the man would never ask for help directly.

"Sir? What is it? What's wrong?" He was gripping the phone so tightly it was beginning to creak in protest.

"I… It's Dark Nation…" Rufus said in a slightly calmer voice. "There's something wrong with her. I think she needs a veterinarian, but I can't move her by myself." Once he realized Rufus was alright, Reno sighed in relief, though he was careful not to let his boss hear. He liked Dark Nation, Rufus's twenty-five-year-old black Guard Hound – he had always wondered what was wrong with whatever scientist named that species, since she was definitely a cat, not a dog – but he was still more than a little irritated at being woken up at 3 a.m. by one cat to take care of another.

"Whaddya mean somethin's wrong with her, yo? How can you tell?" he asked, biting back the myriad questions running through his head, such as "What the hell are you doing up at 3 a.m. anyway?"

"I don't… She just… I don't think she can get up, Reno, and she's acting like she's in pain… I don't know what I can do... You're the only one of my Turks who knows anything about cats, and I need you to come help me get her to Dr. Liner's." Reno sighed. Dr. Liner, the veterinarian Rufus had taken Dark Nation to since she was a cub, was notorious for charging way too much every time Rufus came in, knowing he could get away with it and Rufus would never know the difference. Not many others were willing to take care of a giant black cat-creature, though, so his options were fairly limited.

"Okay, I'll be there in just a sec, Sir." Rufus made some sort of sound indicating that he had understood and hung up. Reno closed his phone and stepped into his shoes, hurriedly slipping on his black jacket over his pajama shirt. Before he left, he went to the room next door to check on Rude, who was still snoring while he slept off the cold medicine he had taken earlier that night. "Poor Baldy," he muttered to himself, knowing that either he or Elena had been the one Rude caught the cold from and feeling a little guilty about it. Hoping that Rude wouldn't need anything for a little while, Reno grabbed his keys and nudged Luther and two other cats away from the door so he could get to the newly reconstructed ShinRa Building.

No one at the front desk said a word when he entered the lobby and strode purposefully toward the elevators; by now, they were well-accustomed to Rufus's Turks coming and going at all hours of the night. He entered the large elevator and punched the button for the fortieth floor – the top floor and the one that contained Rufus's penthouse as well as his office. He waited impatiently, trying not to nod off as the elevator slowly travelled endlessly upward. Finally, when he had almost fallen over from drowsiness and boredom, the elevator beeped and announced his arrival at his destination. He yawned and lazily stepped out into the hall, striding toward Rufus's room in his usual carefree way. He knocked on the door but got no answer. Trying the knob, he found it unlocked. He would have to lecture Rufus about that later; how many times had he warned him about leaving that friggin' door unlocked, for Shiva's sake?

When he stepped inside, he found the living room empty and the lights off; the bedroom, then. Just as he had thought, Rufus was sitting on the floor of his bedroom, cradling Dark Nation's large black head in his lap. Reno had to force himself not to snort with laughter every time he saw the enormous, mahogany-framed cat bed Rufus had had made especially for her; it was designed to look just like a miniature version of the antique king-sized bed he slept in, complete with a matching silver goose-down comforter and huge Wutaian silk pillows. The man had too much money to burn, that much was certain. But what had really surprised Reno over the years was how much of a doting pet parent Rufus actually was; the young President spared no expense when it came to Dark Nation, and she was always by his side when she could be, ready to protect her master if needed, or to simply lay by his side if he wanted it. Nation was the only creature Rufus openly showed any affection to, subtle though it may have been, at least in public.

Reno understood why he was so attached to her, though. Rufus had owned her since he was three years old, and they had grown up together – Dark Nation had been Rufus's only real friend for most of his life, until he became President and met the Turks, who he grew to care deeply about and formed a strong bond with. And the great cat had been by his side through many of his toughest moments, going even where his Turks could not.

Reno shuddered inwardly as he remembered just how afraid he had been during the explosion of ShinRa Tower that had nearly claimed Rufus's life, knowing he had no hope of finding his boss in the remains of that building without some kind of miracle. Even though she had been injured herself, the then-twenty-two-year-old Dark Nation had been the one to sniff out his broken body amongst the rubble, and the one who dragged him out, carefully holding his white leather coat between her teeth and pulling him over to the waiting Turks before collapsing from the loss of blood of her shattered hind leg. No one had expected her to live then, but she had refused to give up, lying beside him in his hospital bed and keeping him warm while they both recovered; letting him lean on her so he could stand when his broken, pin-filled bones healed; curling around him and letting him hug her tightly when the Stigma left him in so much pain he could barely breathe without screaming. She was everything to Rufus, and now, as Reno knelt beside her and looked at her glazed eyes and bone-thin body, his heart sank as he realized she was probably not going to be sticking around much longer.

"So, how long's she been like this, Sir?" Reno asked quietly, stroking the great cat gently and listening to her quiet purring, broken at odd intervals by her uneven breathing. Rufus continued to scratch her behind her ears, not looking up at Reno as he spoke.

"She refused to eat this morning. The only other time she's ever done that was when we were both so badly injured three years ago. She slept a lot more than usual today, but other than that she seemed fine until about two a.m. I woke up when she started coughing, and when I tried to coax her into getting up and drinking, she couldn't get her legs to support her. I'm not sure what could be wrong; she hasn't been acting any differently lately, and Dr. Liner said her losing weight gradually was to be expected at her age, so…"

Reno nodded, listening to Rufus while his hands ran over Dark Nation's body, feeling for some kind of injury. As expected, he found none. What worried him most was the way she was breathing, from her stomach instead of up in her chest. That meant she was really having to work at pulling air into her lungs, and Reno had seen that happen to too many criminals after he had finished with them not to recognize it as a bad sign. He lifted her lips up and looked at her gums – they were snow-white. Definitely bad.

"Sir, I think we need to get her to Liner's now. I don't like the look of any of this. How much does she weigh?"

"At her last weigh-in, she was two-hundred pounds, but I think she's lost some since then." Reno sighed, for once cursing the fact that he wasn't as large and muscular as Rude, and nodded.

"Okay. I'll get her. I parked right out front, so you take my keys and get the car unlocked, and I'll be right behind you." Rufus took the keys and left immediately, calling both elevators up so that one would be waiting for Reno when he needed it. With a great effort, Reno bent down and slipped his arms under Dark Nation's torso, letting her limbs dangle while he walked over to the elevator and punched the DOWN arrow with his elbow. The doors slid open immediately and he stepped inside, hitting the first floor button with his hip and leaning against the wall to take some of the burden off of his back. Once they had reached the ground floor, his arms were shaking, but Nation had put up no protest to being carried, so he continued out the door with her, ignoring the strange looks the receptionists were giving him.

He found his car unlocked and the back doors open, with Rufus waiting in the back seat so he could set Dark Nation on his lap. Reno did just that, making sure she was as comfortable as possible before closing the doors and hopping into the front seat. He turned the ignition and gunned it out of the parking lot, smoothly turning each corner without jostling his passengers despite how fast he was going. It took only a few minutes to reach Dr. Liner's office thanks to Reno's expert driving, and as soon as he had pulled up to the entrance, the redhead got out and pressed the intercom button by the door; Dr. Liner lived in an apartment above his clinic so that he would always be there whenever a patient needed him. A few seconds later, a slightly groggy voice crackled through the speaker.

"Yes? How can I help you?"

"Dr. Liner, it's Reno. I know it's late, but I got a sick Guard Hound and a worried boss in the car, and I'm not sure which you should treat first."

"Oh, yes, Reno," the old veterinarian said with a chuckle, becoming more alert by the second. "I'll unlock the door for you and meet you downstairs in just a moment. Go ahead and bring her in."

"Sure thing, Doc." Reno heard the click of the sliding door being electronically unlocked, and he strode back to the car, where Rufus was waiting for him with his hands idly petting Nation. She barely responded when Reno lifted her off of Rufus's lap, which Rufus did not fail to notice. His mouth tightened into a thin line as he followed Reno through the automatic door, and stayed that way when they found Dr. Liner already waiting for them in the lobby beside the scale. The man's face was neutral, but Reno could have sworn he saw him frown for just an instant the moment he looked at Nation.

"Okay, Reno, can you set her down on the scale here for a moment?" Dr. Liner asked patiently, holding up her chart to record the weight. Reno grunted an affirmative and gently lowered her down to lay on the scale, interested to see just how heavy she was – it felt like a thousand pounds to him, judging by how much his arms were starting to shake. After a few moments, the digital scale locked on 170.3 pounds. Dr. Liner made a disapproving sound and wrote the weight down, trying not to say anything that might worry Rufus, although there were a million worrying things about this. "Alright. Let's get her to the exam room – I'll help you." He and Reno each lifted one end of Dark Nation's body, with Rufus supporting her head as they took her up the hall to the exam room and laid her on the table.

Once he was sure she was not going to fight him – she had been known to need a muzzle on occasion, when she was in a particularly good mood – Dr. Liner began to check her over. He took her temperature, frowning at how low it was, checked her pulse and breathing, and lifted her eyelids and lips to check the color of the membranes there – they were white as snow. He sighed, patting the great cat affectionately and scratching behind her ears as he shook his head and looked up at Rufus. He stared back steadily, his eyes betraying nothing as he waited for the doctor's assessment.

"Rufus, I don't think there's anything I can do for her," he said sadly, looking into the Guard Hound's glazed eyes as she coughed weakly and took a moment to catch her breath. He did not miss the way Rufus's fist clenched tightly to keep it from trembling, but he did not comment on it. "She's hung on through more than anyone could ever have expected, but I think her age has finally caught up with her. The fluid in her lungs and weak pulse are symptoms of congestive heart failure, and the pallor of her mucous membranes indicates to me that she is extremely anemic. If you wanted to, we could give her some blood, and try to keep her warm, but that would only prolong the inevitable – if she even made it through the night." Reno's eyes widened in shock; he had known she was in bad shape, but he wasn't prepared to hear anything like this.

"So what are you suggesting I do?" Rufus asked quietly, his voice completely monotone.

"I suggest euthanasia. I'll give her a shot, and it will take only a few seconds before her heart stops and she essentially just goes to sleep. Other than the needle-stick, it's totally painless."

"She'll suffer greatly if I ask you to keep her alive a little longer, won't she?"

"Yes, I believe so. I am capable of it, but it isn't something I would recommend."

Rufus nodded. "I understand." He reached out and began to stroke Dark Nation's sleek body, fighting back a shudder when he thought about just how bony she had become. She turned her head slightly to look at him, a brief flash of recognition returning to her eyes before she laid her head down again and coughed raggedly. Rufus moved his hand to her head, hoping she would not be bothered by how much it was shaking now.

"Boss," Reno said quietly. "I think –"

"Do it," Rufus said quietly, never looking up from petting Nation.

"You're sure?" Dr. Liner asked gently, resisting the urge to put a weathered hand on the young man's shoulder. Rufus nodded.

"She doesn't deserve to suffer just so I can keep her body alive a little longer."

"I understand." The older man handed Rufus a document authorizing the procedure, which he signed with barely a glance at. "Would you like to stay here with her while I do this?"

"Yes. I owe her that much," he answered in a voice barely above a whisper. Dr. Liner nodded, leaving the room for just a moment and returning with a needle full of a clear liquid. With ease only years of practice could have given him, the vet found the vein he was looking for and inserted the needle in a quick, fluid motion, pushing the plunger down when he was sure he had hit his mark. For just a moment, Dark Nation's eyes regained an almost youthful clarity, and she let out a gentle, purring growl and turned her head towards Rufus. He scratched her ears, and she gave Rufus's hand one final lick before laying her head down on the table and passing into eternity with a long, soft sigh. Reno felt his breath hitch and suppressed a sob he hadn't felt coming. Rufus leaned down and kissed his great cat's head, then closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Reno, will you settle up here?" he asked softly. "I'd like to wait for you in the car."

"Yeah, sure thing…" Reno said distractedly, still staring at Nation's body as if willing her to leap up from the table and shout "Just kidding!" Rufus spun on his heel and strode down the hall, shoes clicking loudly in the stillness of the building. Reno stood there for a minute, just stroking the Guard Hound's body and scratching her ears, thinking how much he was going to miss her.

"So, Reno," Dr. Liner said after he heard the front door slide closed. "I will handle the body. You can choose to have her cremated with other animals and the ashes scattered in the pet cemetery or privately cremated and returned to Rufus. What would you like to do?"

"No offense, but the boss would never forgive me if I let her be mixed in with anyone else's pets. I'll have her returned to us. But when you do that, could you use my number as the contact?" he asked, suddenly coming up with an idea. "I have somethin' I'd like to do to surprise Rufus – tryin' to make all this a little easier for him, yo."

"Of course."

Reno paid the fee and left hurriedly, trying not to think about Nation or how strange it was going to be not to see her at Rufus's side anymore. He finally let himself cry just outside the door of the clinic, smoking a quick cigarette and making sure Rufus couldn't see him while he pulled himself together. He was a cat-lover, as any of the other Turks could attest to, and he couldn't stand to lose one, whether he owned it or not. Finally, after he had smoked his cigarette down to a finger-burning length and ground it out against the brick wall, he flicked the butt into the bushes and returned to the car, opening the driver's side door and getting into his seat in silence. Rufus didn't even look at him as he turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the parking lot; he just stared straight ahead, barely blinking and not seeming to actually see anything. Reno left him alone. If this was how he needed to cope, he'd let him; Reno had never seen the man cry in his life, and he didn't expect him to.

After a short while, they reached the ShinRa building. Reno parked as close to the entrance as he could and let Rufus out of the car, surprised when his attempt to follow his boss inside was waved off.

"I'll be fine, Reno," Rufus said firmly. "You can go now. Thank you for your help."

"Uh, yeah… Anytime…" Reno answered uncertainly as Rufus spun on his heel and headed inside. He certainly hadn't expected Rufus to be this calm about losing his best friend. In fact, it almost made him angry to watch. How could he be so nonchalant about this? He didn't expect much, but wasn't he capable of some kind of reaction? Reno sat in the car for a moment, smoking another two cigarettes and thinking about all of the things he had loved so much about Dark Nation, and how much it made him want to hug his own cats right about now – even Luther, the big oaf. He turned around to look for his ashtray, thinking he had last seen it somewhere in the back seat, when he heard something jingle in his coat pocket. Reaching into the depths of the fabric, he pulled out a faded leather collar with a gold-plated tag attached – Dr. Liner had taken it off of Nation for him to give to Rufus before he had signed the cremation forms.

Suddenly he felt an unshakable urge to go check on his boss – something told him he just needed to. Stuffing the collar back into his pocket, he jogged up to the building and headed for the elevators, growling in frustration at how long it took to reach the top floor again; finally, it reached his destination, and he hesitantly stepped out into the hall. Slowly, quietly, he made his way to Rufus's home, unsure how the President would react to him ignoring a request to leave him alone. He tested the doorknob and found it still unlocked, much to his relief. The living room lights were on this time, and he quickly spotted Rufus sitting on the large leather sofa in the middle of the room, staring blankly down at his hands, which were folded in his lap.

Reno strode over to him, shocked as he realized Rufus was trembling. It looked almost like he was… No. Rufus never cried about anything. No way that's what it was. But when he sat down beside Rufus on the couch, he realized the man really was trying to hold back tears – his entire body was shaking with the effort. The sight made him sad in ways he had never imagined; he had never seen Rufus cry, and he wondered what might have happened to make him so afraid to do it even now. He didn't appear to notice Reno's presence, curling up to lay his head on his knees and sniffling softly. Finally, not knowing what else to do, Reno wrapped his arms around the other man, pulling him into a tight embrace and earning a startled gasp in response.

"It's okay, you know," he whispered as Rufus just sat there, tense but not pulling away. "I won't laugh at you or anything. Tears don't make you weak, yo."

That was all it took. Rufus made a soft, miserable sound and buried his face in Reno's jacket, returning the embrace and clutching the redhead tightly as he finally allowed himself to feel the emotions he had tried for so long not to acknowledge. He sobbed brokenly, his breath coming in short, uneven gasps as he tried to keep himself under some semblance of control. His body trembled as he cried against Reno's chest, and the Turk could feel hot tears soaking through his shirt. He hugged Rufus tighter, rubbing his back and slowly rocking the two of them back and forth, trying to soothe him the best way he knew how. They stayed that way for several minutes, until Rufus's gasping sobs had lessened into hiccupping sniffles. Reno wasn't sure when he had gotten close enough to his boss to do this without getting punched, but he wasn't about to question it; even though they were the same age, he felt protective of Rufus like an older brother might, and he couldn't stand to let him grieve alone.

"I don't know what I'll do without her, Reno…" Rufus whispered, his voice wavering with suppressed sobs. "This house already feels so empty without her in it…"

"Shh, I know…" Reno murmured, still holding onto Rufus until he indicated he wanted him to let go. "I'll miss her, too; we all will. But you did the right thing. She was old even for a Guard Hound, and she's in a better place now." That earned another choked-back sob, and Rufus shook his head, sighing and wiping his eyes as Reno finally released him.

"The best place for her was right here at my side," he said quietly, almost angrily. "She's what kept me sane until I met you four Turks. I knew plenty of others before I knew you all, but none who I considered friends. My father and his Turks cared nothing for me, only for the fact that I was being groomed for my role as the next President. I could have been a Cactuar with the last name ShinRa and that would have been the same to them." Reno wanted to cry himself hearing that, but he didn't say anything, listening patiently while Rufus talked. "She saved my life so many times, and I… I didn't even know she was… She suffered because I was such an idiot –"

"Stop right there, Sir," the redhead said firmly, putting his hand on Rufus's shoulder and forcing him to look at him. "You are not the reason for any of this, yo. Nation was twenty-five years old; that's about five years older than most Guard Hounds live in captivity, and about fifteen longer than they live in the wild. You took great care of her, and she took great care of you, but she had to go sometime. None of us live forever." Rufus nodded slowly, wiping his eyes and looking at the tears strangely, as if not believing they were his.

"You're right, Reno. I just… I'm not sure what I'm supposed to feel right now. I can't remember a time in my life when she wasn't around; she was around more than my own parents were, for Shiva's sake! Because of her I was never truly alone."

"I know, but you don't need her in the same way you did then," Reno said gently, patting Rufus's shoulder. "You've got all of us Turks now, and we're our own little happy dysfunctional family. Somewhere along the line we decided to stick with you because we cared, not just because you signed our checks, and we're always gonna be there for you whether you want us or not." After a long silence, Reno stood and stretched, somehow sensing that Rufus would be alright and that he needed some time to sort himself out alone. He smiled to himself when he saw the tiniest hint of a grin in the corners of Rufus's mouth.

"Reno," Rufus called softly when he was almost out the front door.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning around and expecting to be asked to stay longer or something.

"Thank you – for everything. Take a few extra hours to sleep, and I'll see you at work."

"Yes, Sir. And you do the same, if you can." Reno stepped out into the hall, grinning to himself when he was sure the door was shut and locked behind him.

He was going to be just fine.

A few weeks later, Rufus was in the middle of sorting through a few W.R.O. construction plans sent in by Reeve when he heard someone knocking on his office door. He looked at the clock, wondering if it was already time for his meeting with Tseng, but it was still two hours early for that; Tseng was always early for meetings, but not by two hours. With a slight feeling of apprehension, he opened the door, expecting to be greeted by some kind of bad news, since that was unannounced visitors usually brought. Instead, he was surprised to see Reno standing there, holding something in a large black drawstring bag and grinning madly. Rufus immediately grew suspicious.

"Reno, what have you done this time?" he asked, half amused and half frightened as he shut the door and gestured for the Turk to sit down in the chair across from his desk. Reno plopped himself down in the comfortable leather chair, and would have propped his feet up on Rufus's desk if he wasn't so busy protecting whatever was in that velvet bag. "And what is that?" Rufus asked as he sat down, folding his fingers in front of his face and staring at Reno over the top of them.

"It's a surprise for you, Boss-man!" Reno said cheerfully, patting whatever was inside the bag proudly. "I had to pull a few strings to get it just how I wanted it, but it turned out really well!"

"What, did you and Rude come up with some new type of bomb?" Rufus knew that when Reno had been "pulling strings" it usually had something to do with weapons, especially if their resident bald pyromaniac had anything to do with it.

"Nope, not this time. Here, take a look." Reno set something on the desk that at first looked to Rufus like just a black box. But when Reno turned it around, he gasped, unable to keep himself from staring in complete awe at what the redhead had brought him.

It was a small urn, made out of ebony polished to look just like the sheen of Dark Nation's coal-black fur. The top of the urn was engraved in gold lettering that read: "Dark Nation" in beautiful script, followed by the dates "εуλ 1985 – εуλ 0010" – her birth and death dates. The front panel of the box was made up of a picture framed in gold trim; Rufus realized as he looked at it that it was a photograph taken almost four years ago, on the night of his first day as ShinRa President. He was sitting on the couch in his suite in Junon, Dark Nation beside him, and he was smiling as he scratched her behind the ears, not aware that Tseng had been taking the picture at the time.

Rufus could do nothing but stare at the urn, running his fingers over the delicate gold lettering and trying to convince himself that he wasn't dreaming. When had Reno found the time to do something like this?

"Reno…" Rufus finally managed, hearing his voice crack but not caring. "Thank you… I don't know how you managed this, but it means more to me than you'll ever know."

"Aww, shucks, Sir!" Reno said with a wide grin. "I just came up with the idea. All the others chipped in, too. Elena and Tseng designed the engravings, and Rude chose the picture. And they all helped me pay for it, too. We all loved Nation, you know? Even Tseng with his cat allergies." Rufus smiled, still tracing Nation's name with the tips of his fingers, imagining that he could still feel her fur under his hands for a moment.

"Well, anyway, I'm glad ya like it. I'll tell the others once they get back from their lunch break."

"Yes, thank you. I'll tell them later, too." Reno nodded and left, closing the door behind him and strutting off proudly like a cat that had just caught its first mouse. Rufus continued to stare at the urn for some time, and then his attention drifted to a small picture he had on the corner of his desk – his four Turks gathered around him just after his Geostigma had healed, all standing as close to him as they could and looking joyful despite being fairly battered from their battles with Kadaj's gang. He felt a smile twitching in the corners of his lips; they really were all just a happy little dysfunctional family.

And he wouldn't have it any other way.

Author's Note: To anyone who has ever lost a pet, this story is for you. Don't ever be afraid to let yourself miss them, and remember that often it takes an animal to remind us of what makes us human.

Please leave a review if you can. It makes this author very happy to know when someone enjoys my work.