Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Intervention ❯ Child of Chaos ( Chapter 2 )

Story title = Intervention

 

Story Description = Reno finally succumbs to the dark and destructive nature of his unstable emotions. When his bosses Tseng and Rufus do nothing & his partner and friend Rude stands in the wings and watches mutely, it's up to Elena to step in and save him from himself. (Post Game, Elena/Reno, Het, Yaoi, Drug & Alcohol abuse)

 

Author's Note - Characters may appear OOC. Tried to keep them as close to cannon as possible, but considering I'm writing this not the people at SquareEnix, you'll have to deal.

 

Disclaimers = I don't own the boys and girls of Final Fantasy 7, SquareEnix does.

 

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2 - Child of Chaos

 

Nursery rhymes are said, verses in my head

Into my childhood they're spoon-fed

Hidden violence revealed, darkness that seems real

Look at the pages that cause all this evil

-- Shoots and Ladders by Korn

 

 

Though late, children were still playing in front of buildings. Their laughter, screams, cries and chatter blended together with the sounds of the road traffic, music and voices on radios and TVs from open windows, and the sounds of people yelling, arguing or shouting to each other from open windows and fire escapes. It was a blending of sounds one only heard in the larger cities.

 

Reno swaggered down the sidewalk, his EMR bouncing jauntily against his side as his long red ponytail switched back and forth like a living creature with its own mind. He was still whistling that off key, happy melody as he moved. His aquamarine eyes almost fever bright as he spotted the kids playing. There was something special he liked about children. It was their naivety and innocent purity. They only knew him as the funny red head that would stop and play with them on his way to where ever it was he was going at the time. They didn't know of his history or of his current occupation, therefore they didn't judge him by his past actions.

 

The first group of children he came across were playing hopscotch. He spent a few minutes hopping along the squares, triangles and circles that had been chalked colorfully along the sidewalk. The second group were slightly older though much more active in their play. Double Jump was the current game. His glittering eyes followed the pattern of the ropes as his mako enhanced abilities made it easy for him to jump right into the center of the twirling ropes.

 

The girls on either side of him turned then let out startled squeals of surprise. "Re!" the girls (twins) cried out at the same time then started laughing as the ropes tangled around them.

 

"Hey Cindy," Reno said draping one arm over the shoulder of girl to his left.

 

"I'm Mindy," the girl said with a fake pout.

 

He then turned and draped his right arm over the shoulders of the girl on that side. "Hey Mindy."

 

The girl huffed crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm Cindy," she informed him.

 

Reno just grinned again, turning his head from one side to the other as he gave both a quick, light peck on their cheeks as he hugged them close before letting go. He laughed at their squeals and the bright hue of their faces as they blushed. He did at least help the girls untangle the ropes before he started to walk away. He paused though and looked up to the top of the steps. "Where's Ari?"

 

One of the girls that had been twirling the ropes answered him this time. "Ari had to go to the doctor's. Some type of specialist," she said, turning to her friends a moment. "Junon right? Or was it Icicle inn?" getting a shrug in reply only she turned back to Reno, "They left a couple of days ago. Don't know how long they will be gone."

 

Reno blinked, sticking one hand into his pants pocket, the other scratching the back of his neck. "Eh? Ah. Gotcha. Well gotta go, catch you girls later!" he waved cheerfully and continued on his merry way.

 

The third group he came across were the older boys. Their ages ranged from pre-teens up though the teenage years. He made his presence know when he snagged the basketball from one of the older teens who were playing a game of hoops.

 

"What? Hey!" came the surprised exclamations from the teens.

 

"Yo," Reno said as he dribbled the ball back and forth. He grinned then tossed it into the basket almost perfectly. For the next little bit, Reno played street hoops with the teens. Even with 4 to 1 odds, he still beat them by almost triple. About this time is when all the parents started calling in the children for dinner and family time. The sidewalks became ghost towns as only those that had need to be out, were.

 

Looking at his watch, he blew a few strands of his fiery hair out of his face. He was going to be late no matter what so he shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets once more and continued on the way to work. The distance wasn't so far that he needed transportation other then his own two feet, yet far enough that when weather turned foul it made it feel like his destination was half way around the world.

 

He ignored the chill wind that somehow found its way down the back of his navy blazer to caress his skin like a cold lover. Pulling his hands from his pockets he pulled the blazer tighter around his thin frame, flipping the collar up as he did. He knew better then to voice his question about things getting worse. The powers that be had a tendency to use him as their entertainment.

 

 

~ * ~

 

"You're late."

 

Reno looked up, scowling at the person. "Love you to Elena," he grumbled as he ran his hands though his wet and drooping red locks before taking a sip from the Styrofoam cup. At least she had waited till they were behind closed doors before she started in on him.

 

"Rude went home almost an hour ago. You could have at least called me to let me know you would be late. Again," Elena said as she crossed her arms over her chest and watched Reno continue to scowl, this time looking down into his cup at the black liquid it contained.

 

He blew out a sigh then looked away. "I forgot it," he said.

 

She might have missed his words if she hadn't been waiting on them. "You forgot it? How.. never mind Reno, I don't want to know." She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as she did. She let out her own sigh, though of disappointment rather then annoyance, and opened her eyes once more. "Just get in there then. We can talk about it later," she looked at him and caught the look on his face. It was one she had been seeing more and more often of late. In fact ever since the Lifestream's eruption that prevented the Meteor from striking the planet. "IF you want to that is," she hastily added.

 

Reno scowled at her one more time before turning around sharply and entering the President's private hospital room. He had wanted to throw the coffee at her, to scream at her for interfering with his life, he'd even wanted to hit her with his rod set on full power. But he didn't do any of those things, instead his anger at her inferring there was something wrong with him had just dissipated like smoke in the wind. All that he'd been left with was a numbing emptiness. Taking a look at the president as he lay there covered in bandages, wires and tubes, he shuddered and turned away from the view to look out the window instead. He thought to himself on how easy it would be if he could open the window and just step out.

 

Outside the room, Elena took a deep breath then let it out slowly as she brought her hand up to her face and rubbed. She knew something was wrong with Reno and it was becoming quite obvious that he had better get some help soon or it would be too late. There was no way in hell anyone could miss how thin he was starting to get. It wasn't like he had a lot of fat or muscle on him in the first place, but still. Even some of the doctors and nurses had spoke with her privately about it. Each and every one had advised strongly on getting him some type of help. But Summons help her if she tried to voice that concern to him. The one and only time she'd said anything he'd become quite violent about it. There was no two ways about it, she would have to bring it up to Tseng tomorrow. She could no longer turn a blind eye to what was going on the way Rude was doing.