Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Alliance ❯ Chapter 26

“Alliance”

Chapter 26

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(Warning: Possible spoilers for all FF7 game/movie titles)

*Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all related characters belong to Square-Enix. This fiction piece is strictly a non-profit exercise of creativity and entertainment for people (like me) who can't get enough of this world and the characters.*

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“Have you found him yet?”

 

“No Ma'am,” the trooper answered with a cringe. “There's been no sign of him out on the field either. We've got search parties checking the ski slopes to make sure he didn't go down there.”

 

Illiyana considered defection for the first time since joining the Turks. “Tseng is going to kill us all, if we don't find him.”

 

The soldier swallowed. “Have you contacted him yet to tell him?”

 

“No, are you crazy?” the Turk woman snapped. “Telling him that we've lost the president while he's in the middle of fighting a battle…do you want to be tortured to death?”

 

“Well, what do you think he's going to do when he comes back and finds out we never told him?!” The young man was on the verge of panic.

 

“Okay, we've got to calm down and think this out rationally,” a WRO operative broke in. “The last time he was seen was when Illiyana brought him his dinner and he was gone when we checked on him an hour later. We've got every exit from his room watched so he couldn't have gotten out!”

 

“Then where is he, genius?” Illiyana snapped.

 

The WRO frowned, thinking over the possibilities. “Maybe he knocked out one of the guards and took his clothes? He could be out there fighting in disguise right now.”

 

“No,” the ShinRa trooper argued, “that can't be right. I've done rounds and I know all the guards assigned to watch the building. Believe me, if the president was posing as one of them I'd know it. All of my guys are accounted for.”

 

“Let's backtrack,” Illiyana insisted. “Was the entire room searched from top to bottom, including the bathroom?”

 

“Well, we checked both and didn't find him,” the trooper said in an increasingly annoyed tone. “What, do you think he crawled into a drawer or something?”

 

Their agitated conversation was interrupted when one of the Turks ran into the lobby and hurried over to Illiyana.

 

“They're finished on the field for the day and Tseng's already landed his chopper outside of town,” he informed her.

 

The woman's complexion lost all color. “Why didn't you tell me this earlier?” she asked through stiff lips.

 

“Because I didn't know they were finished until it was already over and they came back,” the young man snapped. “You're the one that lost the president…YOU deal with it. I'm going back to what I was doing before.” He hurried away, leaving the three mismatched conspirators by themselves at the foot of the stairs leading up to the rooms.

 

“Gotta love that Turk loyalty,” muttered the ShinRa trooper under his breath.

 

“Like you can love militia irresponsibility and stupidity?” Illiyana shot back. “You didn't even search the whole room!”

 

“You could have done it too!” he argued.

 

“No, I was busy organizing the field search, you dumb bastard! Your people were in charge of searching the Inn and the town!”

 

“Look,” cut in the WRO, “It doesn't matter now because he's back and we're going to have to explain this to him. We're all in deep shit together so let's not make it worse by going at each other's throats.”

 

The other two lapsed into frightened, angry silence. Finally, Illiyana sighed and regained her cool. “Well, there's nothing we con do for it now except try to correct the situation. Let's go and report to Tseng.”

 

~******************************~

 

“Why didn't you notify me immediately?” The Wutaian's voice was deadly calm and his face was expressionless. Behind him, some medics were carrying Vincent by stretcher into the Inn and Reeve followed behind them. The WRO looked pleadingly at his leader as he passed but Reeve was too concerned with his stricken companion to pay attention to their peril.

 

“We didn't think he could have gone far and we thought we could find him without interrupting you,” Illiyana explained in a rush, her heart thumping so loudly she was sure it could be heard by everyone in a ten-foot range. Other well-known faces were trudging into town, including Cloud Strife and the rest of his friends. Reno and Rude were walking beside Cloud and his handsome, winged friend was beside him. Illiyana's only consolation was that Tseng wasn't the sort to publicly murder anyone.

 

“What's wrong?” Reno said as he came up behind Tseng and noticed the tension in his body.

 

Tseng leaned over to whisper in the redhead's ears and Reno groaned and shook his head.

 

“Told ya this would happen,” Reno grumbled. “Well, let's go have a look and see what the military suckers missed. Hey Cloud, can you and Zack give us a hand?”

 

Tseng made a shushing motion but he was too late to stop the redhead from involving others.

 

“Something wrong?” Cloud asked, his blue eyes curious. The others thankfully kept filing past, either because they were too tired and concerned about Vincent to care or because they thought it wasn't their business until asked to get involved. All of them were sporting wounds of some sort and Zack looked like someone had punched him in the eye and hit him with a tire iron a few times in various places.

 

“Come up to the president's Inn room with us and we'll discuss it,” Tseng murmured before Reno could say anything. To the three that were in charge of the searches, he added: “Keep this as quiet as possible. Continue your searches outside of town while we investigate the Inn. Illiyana, come with us.”

 

The young woman was frozen to the spot for a moment with fear, but she forced herself to move and told herself that her boss wouldn't shoot her right in front of Strife and his friend. She went in with them and they waited until the stairs were clear before going up to Rufus's room. Tseng waited for the others to go in before he followed and shut the door behind him.

 

“Tell us exactly what happened, Illiyana.” Instructed the Turk leader calmly.

 

She explained everything and when asked if she searched the whole room, she explained that the ShinRa troops were responsible for that. She half expected him to snap at her and accuse her of making excuses but he was being very calm and understanding about it. Reno went over to the table and picked up the bottle of scotch.

 

“Did he drink all this by himself?” Reno asked with raised eyebrows.

 

Illiyana nodded. “Except for one shot he poured for me, yes. He was…very angry…about being held here against his will.”

 

Tseng saw the bottle and sighed.

 

~This is as much my fault as it is the guards I assigned to him. Had I just trusted him to handle himself without getting killed in battle, Rufus never would have drank that much and disappeared. Shiva, he could be lying in a snowdrift dead somewhere, all because I couldn't bring myself to risk him.~

 

“Thank you, Illiyana. You did well in keeping this between a select few people. We'll take it from here.”

 

She blinked at him, surprised to still be standing. “Thank you, sir,” she said with calmness she certainly didn't feel. She made her retreat hastily and shut the door behind her.

 

“If the boss drank this much that fast, he probably got really wasted,” Reno said as he held the bottle up for everyone's inspection. Rufus was known for moderation when he imbibed and he rarely allowed himself to get more than buzzed before stopping.

 

Zack saw how much was missing from the bottle and he gave a low whistle. “A guy would have to have a pretty hefty tolerance to drink that much without passing out.” On inspiration, the black-haired fighter walked to the bed and squatted down to peer under it. “Nope. No president…just some dust bunnies and a mousetrap.” He announced.

 

Cloud was giving the windows a frowning look and he caught sight of something in the ceiling under a chair that grabbed his attention. The blonde heaved a sudden sigh and motioned to the others.

 

“Did the militia mention anything about checking the attic?” the blonde said when they crowded around him.

 

“No, they did not.” Tseng responded in a lethal tone. Now he was getting angry with someone other than himself.

 

“What kind of shit-for-brains checks the room out and doesn't notice that?” Reno exclaimed with a wave at the chair and the partly opened panel in the ceiling.

 

“We didn't notice it at first,” Rude pointed out.

 

“Well fuck, we've only been in here for about five minutes,” Reno shot back. “Blondie spotted it the minute he had a look around. How long did those pricks even search?”

 

“I think they were too busy shitting their brains all over themselves to pay attention to details,” Zack said in their defense. He smirked at Tseng. “You're not the sort of guy most people want angry with them.”

 

Tseng pursed his lips with annoyance, but it was again directed more at himself than anyone. He hadn't even considered having the attic access sealed or guarded. “Let's go up and see if we can track him,” the Wutaian ordered. “With any luck, he's passed out on the roof somewhere.”

 

Rude went up first and helped the others up. Zack went last. The attic was pretty dark but the dying rays of the sun shone through a couple of attic windows and provided enough light for the men to move without putting their weight in the wrong spot.

 

“So which way do you think he would have gone?” Reno asked the others as they looked around the cramped attic space.

 

“If he were sober, he'd have chosen the least obvious route to throw off pursuit,” Tseng answered with confidence. “As it stands, we're predicting the mind of a drunk man.”

 

“So he probably took the easiest path out,” Zack reasoned with a look over his shoulder at the closest window. The shutter on it was a bit askew, which probably meant his observation was correct.

 

“They all go to the same place anyhow,” Reno said with a shrug. “Does it really matter which one he picked?”

 

“It does if we want to trace his steps accurately,” Tseng murmured.

 

“Let's just try the closest one first,” Cloud suggested.

 

The others agreed and followed behind Rude as the bald man crawled slowly to the window with the lopsided shutter. Reno heaved a sigh of impatience at the slow pace.

 

“Damn partner, not that I'm complaining about the view or anything but could ya kick up the speed a notch? A snail moves faster than you!”

 

Rude stopped abruptly and Reno got an even closer view of his butt when he ran face-first into it. “I weigh more than anyone here,” the bald man muttered. “I've gotta be careful or I could go right through the ceiling.” He flinched when he felt Reno's teeth nip his right buttock. “I'll try to move faster,” he sighed.

 

They climbed through the attic window and onto the roof, one by one. Now that they were out, they decided to split up and search for any signs of the president. Rude was the first to notice the faint traces of Rufus's footsteps leading from the window. They were hard to spot because the snow on the roof was thin, but he followed them and noticed how they doubled back on themselves over the roof. He whistled to his partner and waved him over. Reno hurried to his side, slipping a little on the shingles but catching himself before he fell.

 

“What'd you find, baby?” Reno murmured anxiously as he looked at the spot.

 

“Tracks,” Rude said simply. He traced them with his eyes and he noticed that one set led to the edge of the roof. The others joined them and they also examined the tracks. Reno followed them to the edge of the roof and scratched his head.

 

“What'd he do, jump?” the redhead muttered. A flash of fear shot through him. “Holy shit, what if he did?” He leaned over and searched the ground anxiously, but there was no Rufus lying broken on the ground or any sign of him landing there.

 

Zack scratched his chin and considered the problem. There was simply nowhere to go from there unless the president grew a pair of wings of his own. The former Soldier raised his head to look out over the landscape, wondering if one of the Deepground flyers had happened upon Rufus while he was on the roof and spirited him away. His gaze swept over the big evergreen closest to the Inn and immediately came back to it when he caught sight of a flash of white and blond within the foliage. He narrowed his eyes and frowned.

 

“Found him,” Zack announced, pointing at the tree. “He's just hanging there in the branches, like a scarecrow or something.”

 

The others hurried to Zack's side and followed his pointing gesture with their eyes. Cloud was the first to speak up.

 

“How did he get all the way over there from the roof?” the blonde muttered.

 

“I was thinking maybe one of the Deepground flyers managed to sneak over here to spy and spotted him on the roof,” Zack answered thoughtfully. “Maybe they tried to fly off with him and he struggled too much. Maybe they dropped him in the tree and were too scared to hang around and get him out of it.”

 

“Maybe we should get him the fuck out of it and make sure he's okay,” Reno snapped, his eyes wide and worried.

 

“He's right,” Tseng agreed. “He's been out here exposed to the elements for too long. I can't even tell if he's breathing, from here.” The Turk leader's jaw was tense, hinting that he was far more worried than he let on.

 

Zack spread his wings and flew over to the tree, hovering for a moment before finding an opening and going through. He landed on one of the unbroken branches close to Rufus and he reached out to check his pulse with his fingers. The president's blond head was bowed and a soft snore escaped his lips just as Zack confirmed he still had a heartbeat.

 

“He's alive,” Zack informed the others just loud enough for them to hear him. “I think someone needs to get down on the ground and be ready to catch him if he falls while I'm untangling him. Plus I don't think I want to try to land on the roof with him…it's too slippery.”

 

Cloud sat down on the edge of the roof and dropped off before anyone could say anything. The blonde fighter landed lightly on the ground below and went to the base of the tree, looking up into the branches and bracing himself to catch Rufus if he dropped.

 

“I'll go back inside to the room and open a window,” Tseng offered. “You can carry him to it and we'll tell the others that know of his vanishing act that he was found in the attic.” His dark eyes regarded them each in turn. “The truth of where he ended up is to remain between us, understood?”

 

“Got it,” Reno agreed. Rude nodded silently and so did Cloud. Zack shrugged, more worried about how he was going to get Rufus free from the branches without dropping him than what people would think of the president getting caught up in a pine tree.

 

“I think I can get him out of his coat,” Zack muttered. “I've just got to move down a little and find a foothold so I can have a good hold on him when I do it.”

 

Ordinarily he wouldn't worry that he couldn't pull it off, but he'd had a very clumsy day so far and he didn't want to risk getting the man's neck broken just to salve his pride. While Reno and Rude waited in tense silence, Zack worked his way through the branches and braced himself as wrapped one arm around Rufus to lift him and reached up with his free hand to struggle with the coat. The president dropped a little and Zack inadvertently grabbed his ass when he shifted him to get a tighter hold.

 

Zack frowned again—severely this time—as his hand brushed against something…furry. He leaned around the blonde's unconscious body and looked down. Since his coat was bunched up in the branches, there was nothing covering Rufus's backside save for the insulated pants he wore. Zack stared when he saw what was poking through a hole in the back of them.

 

“Hey guys?” Zack called out. “Did any of you know President Shinra has a tail?”

 

~*******************************~

 

Tseng helped Zack get Rufus through the window and he immediately started putting him to bed.

 

“Aren't you going to get him out of those clothes first?” Zack questioned lightly, crossing his arms over his chest. Cloud came through the bedroom door a moment later and shut it behind him and Rude came down out of the attic. Reno followed shortly after and closed the panel in the ceiling.

 

“I don't think he'd want an audience,” Tseng murmured evasively.

 

“Nothing any of us haven't seen before,” Reno said as he hopped down from the chair and looked at his superior with a glint in his eye. “Well, except Zack. The rest of us have seen it all…right boss?'

 

Tseng looked at each of them in turn. Rude stood beside his partner, his chiseled features stony and unyielding. Cloud stood by the door and regarded Tseng with expectant sapphire eyes. Zack stayed near the bed, watching with interest to see what would happen.

 

“Something wrong, boss?” asked Reno as he moved closer. “You're taking your time getting him settled in and he's been out there for a while. We're not going anywhere until we know he's all right. I could call for a medic if ya want—”

 

“No,” Tseng interrupted quickly…too quickly. He sighed and lowered his eyes. “No, don't call for a medic. I assume you discovered the new…feature the president has while you were retrieving him from the tree, correct?”

 

“So you did know about it and you have been keeping it from us,” Reno accused. “He breathed some of that shit on the first day we fought, right? I knew something was off and you tried to keep it from us!”

 

“Rufus wasn't ready for anyone else to know,” Tseng murmured, turning his attention back to his lover. He could explain while he got Rufus changed into something for bed and cleaned up a bit. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of stale scotch he detected on him. “I only found out because I barged in on him when he wasn't dressed. He probably would have kept it from me as well, otherwise.”

 

“So how does that excuse not telling us?” Reno growled, even as he crossed the room to help Tseng with their lover. “How would you have liked it if I kept it from you when I noticed him coming down with the Geostigma?”

 

“This is different,” Tseng murmured.

 

“I beg your pardon,” Rude cut in firmly, “but it's not.”

 

“He's right, yo,” Reno agreed with a nod at his partner. “Just because the gas gave him a tail instead of a disease wasn't a good reason to hide it from us, Tseng.”

 

“He's the leader of your organization,” added Cloud. “You should have at least told a doctor.”

 

“Do you think I don't know that?” Tseng snapped at all of them, his frustration showing through. “I have been doing everything in my power to respect his wishes for privacy without compromising his well-being! I knocked him unconscious and had him held against his will to keep him out of battle! How dare any of you accuse me of not thinking of his safety?”

 

“I think I'm going to mosey out of this conversation,” Zack said uncomfortably, his drawl sneaking into his voice. This really didn't involve him the way it did the others and he'd only stayed in the first place because he'd been the one to discover the tail. He started to edge toward the door but Tseng's hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

 

“No, you're involved in this now Zackary…whether you like it or not,” the Wutaian said firmly.

 

“How does it involve me?” asked the fighter. “Sounds to me like I'm in the middle of a giant lover's spat and that's got nothing at all to do with me.”

 

Cloud hid a smile behind his hand and Reno smirked as he unbuttoned the president's shirt.

 

“You're involved because you know about the tail,” explained Tseng. “I need you to swear that you'll keep this to yourself.”

 

“Fine, I swear,” Zack said, holding one hand up with the palm facing out. “Scout's honor. I still say you should get a doctor in here to look at him, though. He's had too much to drink and he's been hanging in a tree passed out for over an hour. Can't be good for him.”

 

Rude nodded with agreement and Cloud looked at Tseng imploringly. The Turk leader looked down at Rufus's pale face and sighed. “Do any of you know any doctors you think can be trusted to keep this to themselves? We don't need people panicking right now, so until this is over we need to keep his condition quiet.”

 

“I'm pretty sure my doctor's here somewhere,” Zack said. “I normally hate doctors but he's okay. Want me to look for him?”

 

“If you think he can be trusted, then yes.”

 

Zack nodded and went out the door.

 

~***************************************~

 

They had Rufus sponged off and changed into a pair of pajama pants with a hole in the back for his tail by the time Zack returned with Doctor Green. The black-haired fighter introduced him to them and the medic went to Rufus's side and put his bag on the bed.

 

“Zack tells me the president has an unusual condition,” Dr. Green said as he took out his stethoscope and equipped it.

 

“Yes,” Tseng agreed. He explained what happened with the gas and why Rufus had wanted to keep his condition a secret.

 

Dr. Green nodded and bent over to listen to the president's heart. “I understand his concerns,” he said as he moved the stethoscope from one spot to the next over Rufus's bare chest, “but health really should have come first. As his subordinate, I know you were in a difficult position.” He smelled the liquor on Rufus's breath and he gently lifted one of the blonde's eyelids.

 

“This man,” announced Dr. Green in a disapproving tone, “is very, very intoxicated.”

 

Reno held up the three-fourths empty scotch bottle and shook it. “Yup. He decided if he couldn't fight he'd just get wasted instead.”

 

Dr. Green looked at the bottle with a frown. “Is that all the alcohol he's had, or did he empty another one as well?”

 

“That's it,” Cloud confirmed.

 

The medic sighed. “Well, I'd like to take a blood test all the same. He's not quite as much in danger of alcohol poisoning as I feared, but it's better to be safe than sorry.”

 

They waited while he drew a little blood and checked Rufus's other vitals. When he was finished with that, the doctor dug through his bags until he pulled out a vial of yellow-colored medicine. He drew a dose of it with a syringe and prepared to administer the injection.

 

“Wait, what is that?” Tseng asked.

 

“Just a little something to help him detox faster,” explained the doctor. “Aside from leaving you a bottle of aspirin for when he wakes up, there's not much else I can do for him. He's not suffering from hypothermia or any serious injuries that I can see, but I'd like to have a better look at him after I administer this injection.”

 

Tseng had a faint expression of dread on his face but he didn't argue. They waited for the doctor to finish giving Rufus the shot and then they rolled him over and showed him the tail. Dr. Green showed mild surprise, but he'd been working with patients suffering mutations since he'd arrived so he wasn't shocked.

 

“I can understand why the president was reluctant to allow this to be public knowledge,” the doctor said. “Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do yet to reverse these alterations, but frankly the recipients seem to benefit more from them than suffer. Depending on the individual it seems to enhance certain senses as well as trigger the growth of uh…spare parts. My guess is that the tail provides a counterweight balance and his leg muscles have probably strengthened and become more elastic.”

 

“That seems to be the case,” Tseng agreed.

 

“Well, there's nothing we can do about it right now,” Dr. Green sighed. “I would like it if the president would consent to some lab tests when we're finished here, though. So far these mutations aren't reversible but with time, we may discover a means to change that.”

 

“I'll talk to him about it when he recovers,” promised the Turk leader. “Thank you, doctor.”

 

“My pleasure.” Doctor Green looked at Zack and frowned at his black eye. “You look like you took a bit of a beating, son.”

 

Zack shrugged. “It's no big deal. A helicopter beat me up.” He glanced wryly at Reno, who had the grace to look a little shamed.

 

“A helicopter,” repeated the doctor in a mystified tone. He shook his head and chuckled. “Well, as long as you aren't seriously injured, I suppose you'll be all right. Put some ice on those bruises, Zackary.”

 

“Will do, doc,” promised the fighter.

 

~*************************************~

 

Vincent awoke to find Reeve lying beside him. He tried to sit up and he gasped at the swift pain in his torso. Pulling the covers aside, he looked down at the newly healed wound and recalled what had happened to him. The fresh scar was pink but he knew it would rapidly fade and shrink as his cells regenerated. If it weren't such a severe wound, it might not have left a scar at all. Only the worst injuries scarred his body permanently, these days.

 

Reeve stirred and lifted his head. “Welcome back to the land of the living,” he yawned. He reached out and stroked the gunman's silky hair. “How do you feel?”

 

“I have pain, but it tells me I'm alive,” Vincent murmured. He rolled onto his side and watched his lover, admiring his handsome features. “The last thing I remember was you screaming in my face.”

 

Reeve chuckled. “I apologize. You were fading rather quickly and I knew that your best chance of survival was to change forms and heal the injury. Our Cure materia was wiped out and I didn't think the medics could see to your wound quickly enough to save you.”

 

“You don't have to explain,” Vincent said with a faint smile. “I know why you did it. So tell me, how did the rest of the battle go?”

 

This was the tricky part. Reeve knew that he couldn't tell Vincent that their side had decimated the enemy forces to the point where there was little resistance left, without informing him of his part in it. As much as the engineer dreaded it, he had to tell Vincent the truth and face his lecture.

 

“The battle is all but finished,” Reeve said carefully. “Uh, we used that new canon I designed and it did a pretty good job of taking out a substantial chunk of the Deepground army. There isn't much left for us to do except find and capture Weiss, but we still don't know where he's holed up at.”

 

Vincent looked impressed. “I'm proud that your new invention turned the tide so quickly,” he said truthfully. “Did your people have any difficulty operating it?”

 

“Er…no,” Reeve grimaced. “Actually, I operated it myself. I didn't see the point in wasting time trying to explain it to someone else, so I took it out onto the field.”

 

Vincent's ruby eyes narrowed. “You put yourself in the middle of combat.”

 

“Technically, I didn't,” Reeve argued, “I stayed far enough behind allied lines to be safe enough.”

 

“Not from their flyers,” Vincent countered.

 

“It's all right,” the engineer said hastily, “Cloud was with me the whole time and none of them got close enough to strike at me.”

 

Vincent sighed, his grim expression remaining on his marble features. “I thought we had an agreement, Reeve. I didn't want you putting yourself in harm's way unless there was no other option.”

 

“You were lying there half-dead,” the other man said firmly, with a scowl of his own. “Would you really expect me to not seek retribution? Would you have sat idly by if it had been me?”

 

Vincent's scowl wavered and he lowered his eyes. “I…that's different.”

 

“Pardon me, but bullshit,” Reeve snapped. Despite his harsh words, his touch was gentle as he traced the sculpted features of Vincent's face. “I love you, Vincent. I have as much right as any man to loose my cool and kick some ass when it counts.”

 

Vincent opened his mouth to argue, but he really didn't have a good response. He pressed his lips together in annoyance and nodded curtly. “You win this round, Tuesti.”

 

Reeve smirked. Winning an argument with Vincent took a lot of work. He combed his fingers through the gunman's dark hair and moved in for a kiss. At first, Vincent's lips were unyielding but it didn't take long for them to soften against Reeve's and part. The engineer traced them with his tongue before sliding it in to caress inside. Vincent returned the kiss and his arm went around Reeve's waist as if of its own volition.

 

“Unfair,” Vincent murmured against the other man's mouth, his body reacting to Reeve's skilled kiss despite his weakened state. The engineer's response was to caress his bared chest with his calloused palm and drag his hand over the skin, making it tingle with awareness.

 

“I think it's very fair, personally,” Reeve mumbled. He gently rolled Vincent onto his back and stretched out on top of him, trailing soft, sensual kisses over his jaw and neck. His caressing hand moved lower, stroking over the various scars on the pale, velvety skin. He started undoing Vincent's pants, determined to at least give his lover pleasure even if he was too weak for full-on lovemaking.

 

“Reeve,” Vincent breathed huskily, lifting his hips and pressing into the other man's touch as he cupped his hardening crotch.

 

“Tell me if I'm going too far,” Reeve whispered. “You're the only one of the two of us that knows how much you can take right now.”

 

Vincent kissed him deeply, groaning into his mouth as his leather pants were opened and his cock was eased out of its confinement. The other man's hand felt wonderful on his swelling shaft and Vincent's breath quickened with desire. There was no way in hell he intended to let Reeve stop now. He began working the engineer's clothing off of his body, needing to feel him inside. He got the shirt open and he immediately ran his hands over Reeve's chest, admiring the toned muscles and the dusting of dark hair over it. He was so…masculine. Completely the opposite of what Vincent would have imagined himself going for, if he could have imagined himself with anyone at all in the first place.

 

“Too slow,” Vincent growled as he fumbled with Reeve's clothing impatiently. He needed his lover naked, needed to feel his flesh pressing against his own.

 

“Calm down,” Reeve said with an amused grin. “I'll help you.”

 

Vincent nodded and together, they got the engineer's clothing off first. Reeve chuckled again, realizing that while he'd started undressing Vincent first, he'd ended up beating him to nudity.

 

“Have I told you how much I love it when you get this excited and demanding?” the engineer murmured huskily against the skin of Vincent's neck. The gunman's hands were all over him, caressing, scratching, fondling. In his time as Reeve's lover, he'd learned how to touch his body with his clawed hand without damaging it. Reeve shivered with delight as the metal points skimmed teasingly over his back, making goose bumps spring up.

 

Their efforts became more frantic as their hunger for one another grew and before long, Vincent's pants were pooled on the floor next to Reeve's clothing. Reeve had procured a condom packet and the lube from the nightstand and he began to prepare Vincent with loving care, muffling the gunman's soft moans and gasps with kisses as he worked his entrance with his fingers.

 

“Now, Reeve,” demanded the gunman in a lusty voice. “I want you now.”

 

“You aren't ready yet,” argued the engineer with a frown. Vincent was still tight and clenching around him and while he suffered no delusions of grandeur about the size of his junk, Reeve was big enough to be proud. If he started taking his lover now, he'd cause pain at worst and moderate discomfort at best.

 

“I don't care,” Vincent growled, nipping the engineer impatiently on the throat.

 

“You're absolutely certain?” Reeve queried breathlessly, his dick bucking with eagerness.

 

Vincent nodded, gazing up at him with bright, passionate eyes. “I've endured worse discomfort without the promise of pleasure afterwards. Put the condom on.”

 

Reeve was too hot by now to argue further. He opened the packet hastily and Vincent helped him roll the condom over his swollen cock. The lube came next and Reeve sucked in a heavy breath as Vincent massaged it over his shaft.

 

“That almost feels too good,” sighed the engineer. He felt like he was throbbing all over with pleasure and need as his lover stroked him. Vincent wasn't shy about his touches anymore. It hadn't taken long at all for him to gain confidence and skill. He was such a fast learner that he'd taken Reeve by surprise, in fact. Even though the gunman tended to bottom, his mannerisms were anything but timid or submissive.

 

Reeve eased off of his lover, not wanting to put his weight on him for long until he was fully healed from his injury. He coaxed Vincent onto his side and spooned against him, embracing him as he positioned himself and began to push into his tight heat. Reeve paused when Vincent gasped sharply but the gunman was relaxed against him, hot and eager. He continued until the head was in and he waited for another moment for Vincent to adjust before rocking forward some more.

 

“God, you feel good,” Reeve gasped, his mouth brushing over the creamy pale skin of Vincent's shoulder. He began to rock against him gently and he moved his embracing arm to reach down and grasp the gunman's stiff cock. A soft, uncommon whimper escaped Vincent's parted lips and Reeve smiled and stroked him slowly.

 

“Am I satisfying you, love?” Reeve murmured between kisses. He dragged his mouth up to the shell of Vincent's ear and he kissed it teasingly as he increased the speed and force of his rhythmic thrusting.

 

A moan burst from Vincent's mouth in answer and Reeve murmured husky endearments to him, his breath tickling his ear and making a shiver race down his spine. Vincent began to rock back against the thrusts, greedily taking every inch of the engineer's cock. The embraced lovers shifted until they found the ideal angle for Vincent and his eyes fluttered shut with pleasure. The rigid length pumping forward and back inside of his body massaged his most sensitive spot and soon, he was trembling and tensing in Reeve's arms.

 

“Harder,” Vincent demanded in a breathy growl.

 

Reeve obliged him and matched the rhythm of his thrusts with the stroking of his hand. His efforts were rewarded with a loud groan of approval from Vincent. The gunman turned his head and kissed him on the mouth, his tongue flicking against Reeve's with carnal invitation. Reeve thrust his tongue into Vincent's mouth and kissed him hard. He rubbed the tender cap of the other man's sex and made him shudder.

 

“I can't last,” Vincent panted against the engineer's lips. The pleasure and tension were growing quickly to an explosive finale. The skilled fingers continued to rub the tip of his cock in gentle circles and Vincent hissed and leaned his head back against Reeve's shoulder as his peak struck him. He groaned as he spurted rhythmically against the engineer's caressing fingers, soaking them with his seed.

 

Reeve's breath caught as Vincent's ass clenched around his sex. He pushed hard and deep into the gunman and moaned as he came inside of him. He was beyond caring if anyone in the rooms next to his heard his loud exclamation of pleasure. When he stopped twitching inside of his lover, his strength bled out of him and he collapsed, still buried to the hilt and holding Vincent's spent cock in one hand.

 

“I wish we could spend the rest of our lives just doing that together,” Reeve panted. He nuzzled Vincent's neck and gently stroked the softening length of his cock.

 

Vincent snuggled against him, breathing heavily from his release as well. He didn't complain about Reeve petting his sated shaft. It felt pleasant and the engineer was avoiding the highly sensitized tip.

 

“We'd never get anything done,” Vincent whispered with a little smile.

 

Reeve chuckled and released his sex to embrace him.

 

~******************************~

 

Rude was outside on a hill, looking down at the activities in town while indulging in one of his rarely exercised guilty pleasures. He puffed on the cigar he'd gotten from Cid and enjoyed the smooth flavor of the smoke. He blew some rings and watched them float away and break apart in the chill winter air. A light snow had begun to fall, which could be potentially harmful to the alliance efforts if it picked up and covered the ground too thickly. Of course, after Reeve's stunt with that canon of his, the Deepground forces were so thin now that even heavy snowdrifts weren't likely to impact the outcome of tomorrow's battle.

 

Reno was spending the night in Cloud and Zack's room, so Rude was going to have the room he'd been sharing with his partner all to himself. The bald man didn't mind. He'd gotten plenty of attention from his partner since this all began and if he really wanted company, he could join Tseng in Rufus's room. The boss was still passed out and Rude didn't envy Tseng the consequences he would face for his insubordination when Rufus woke up.

 

“How do you see at night, with those things on?”

 

Rude jumped a little, startled by the sudden voice behind him. He turned to face Genesis and the greeting he'd been ready to give died on his lips at the sight of him. The man was covered in blood. Dark, drying splotches of it splattered his clothing and the wing sprouting from his left shoulder. There were crusted patches of it on his neck and face, too. The redhead staggered a little and Rude wondered how much of the blood was his.

 

“What happened to you?” Rude's tone was neutral but his eyes were concerned behind the concealing shades.

 

“A disagreement,” Genesis shrugged. He winced at the motion and Rude noticed the gashes in the left sleeve of his jacked, on the upper arm.

 

“Must have been a hell of a `disagreement',” Rude mumbled. He put his cigar out in the snow and took a couple of steps toward Genesis. “I think you need a doctor, man.”

 

“It's only a scratch,” assured the redhead. He staggered a little and paled despite his casual statement. “It's the poison doing this to me. My body is neutralizing it but not quite fast enough to suit me.”

 

Rude knew he was feeling worse than he let on. Usually Genesis spoke in a lyrical way, even when he didn't quote some poem or another. The redhead's voice sounded unusually dull and flat to Rude's trained ears. He studied Genesis covertly, noting the slight gauntness in his pale features.

 

“How long has it been since you've eaten?” Rude knew suddenly that if Reno were here to witness this, he'd be calling him a “teddy bear” right about now.

 

“Days, maybe,” Genesis sighed. “I can't remember. My thoughts are…sluggish right now.” He frowned, trying to remember when he'd caught those rabbits and made a stew from them. Was it yesterday? The day before? He was fairly good at hunting but sometimes he just didn't get lucky with his prey. He shook his head. He hadn't come to discuss his eating habits with the Turk.

 

“It doesn't matter. I have information for you to pass on to your superiors.”

 

Rude nodded and waited patiently.

 

Taking the hint, Genesis continued: “I've decided to tell you where you can find Weiss, before it's too late and he escapes. If your people want to end this for good, they need to capture him. Perhaps he can be rehabilitated or perhaps not. As long as he's procured without harm and taken care of, I'll be satisfied that our bargain was honored.”

 

“I'll do what I can to ensure that,” Rude promised. He reached into his jacket and produced a small pad of paper and a pen before nodding at the redhead to go on. Genesis gave him the location coordinates and a description of the landscape surrounding it, and Rude wrote it all down.

 

“Go and tell them now,” Genesis urged. He staggered again and quickly put a hand to his mouth, attempting to turn at the same time to hide his reaction from the Turk.

 

“You're sick,” Rude said with certainty. “You should come into town and get medical help.”

 

“I'll be fine,” Genesis said thickly…though in truth he was expending all his effort not to fall to his knees and dry heave in front of the handsome Turk.

 

~No! Not now! Minerva help me, I don't want to…to…~

 

Genesis panted softly and blinked as the annoying black spots obscured his vision. He managed to keep standing upright but he feared that if Rude didn't leave soon, he'd be witness to him falling face-first into the snow. A strong arm was suddenly around his waist and a warm, hard body was pressing against his side.

 

“You're coming with me,” Rude stated firmly. His expression was hard and grim, brooking no arguments.

 

Genesis blinked at him, trying to bring his face into focus. He simply didn't have the strength to fight against the other man as Rude began to guide him back to town with him, supporting him firmly with one arm and practically dragging him along.

 

~*****************************~

 

-To be continued