Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Intervention ❯ Bat out of Hell ( Chapter 12 )

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.

 

 

12 - Bat out of Hell

 

I'm gonna hit the highway like a battering ram

on a silver black phantom bike

When the metal is hot and the engine is hungry,

and we're all about to see the light

-- Bat out of hell by Meatloaf

 

 

The next morning Elena was sitting at her dining table picking at the remains of her late breakfast when Rude arrived to pick her up. She raised her eyebrow when she looked him up and down then grinned. “Damn. I don't think I've ever seen you in anything other then the uniform or fatigues.” She was wearing an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt which read 'If at first you don't succeed... well then, my friend, you just fucked up' on the front.

 

Rude chuckled as he entered her apartment. “Don't get much call to dress like this anymore,” he said. He was wearing ripped jeans tucked into a pair of worn looking biker boots and a sleeveless muscle shirt. The leather biker jacket was hanging off one shoulder before he draped it over the back of a chair and sat down.

 

“Coffee?” Elena asked as she got up to take her own dishes to the kitchen.

 

“No thank you,” he said. “If I drink anymore coffee I'll be stopping ever few blocks to get rid of it.”

 

The blonde woman let out a laugh, shaking her head. “Well I'm ready when you are.”

 

He nodded and stood back up. “If you have a jacket better grab it otherwise you might get a little chilled,” he told her as he picked up his own. He waited till she had her jacket with her before exiting the apartment.

 

“So why do I need my jacket?” she asked as she followed him down to the parking garage.

 

“You'll see,” he replied with an enigmatic smile. When the two arrived at the area in question, Rude had this huge grin on his face that was so out of place for him. “So what do you think?” he asked showing off his baby proudly.

 

Elena raised an eyebrow, “It's a motorcycle.”

 

“It ain't just a 'motorcycle' girl. It's a Shin-Ra Mark 3 Phantom in prime condition. My baby is a collector's wet dream,” he said giving her a 'I don't believe you don't know what this is' look.

 

She still gave him a skeptical look. “If you say so Rude,” she said eying the bike. “Why don't I take my car and meet you there?” she asked starting to step back. “Might be safer too,” she muttered.

 

Rude shook his head and gave a world weary sigh. “Your just like our little red-head when it comes to my bike. He won't admit it, but he's scared to death to get on it. Says I'll be the death of him the way he claims I drive,” He said, crossing his arms over his chest indignantly. “The little punk flies the copter like a psycho and drives worse.”

 

Elena had a hard time hiding the laughing smile at Rude's antics. “Alright, alright. I'll ride with you for now but if you do drive worse then Reno flies then hang it up. You ride alone next time,” she said with a laugh, holding up her hands.

 

Rude smiled as he put his jacket on then swung his leg over the monster of a motorcycle. Pulling the key out of his pocket he put it in the ignition and turned it on. “Do you want on now or after I crank my baby?”

 

“Uhh... which is better?”

 

Rude tipped his head to the side a moment. “Probably after,” he admitted then toed the kickstand down. It took only one time before the bike was purring away like a rather smug feline. Reaching back he patted the seat behind him. “Time to get on,” he said taking out his sunglasses and sliding them on.

 

The petite blonde eyed the bike and it's owner one more time before heaving a sigh and climbing on behind him. It took her a moment to find where to put her feet then she had to find a place to hold on.

 

Rude chuckled as he walked the bike backwards, out of the parking spot then turned it in the direction of the exit. “Just grab onto my belt. I promise I won't be going anywhere,” he told her as he put the bike in gear and started moving forward.

 

The petite blonde squeaked as she glanced down to see the pavement rolling by a little more then a foot below her then buried her head against Rude's leather covered back, holding on for dear life.

 

Rude on the other hand, was enjoying the wind whipping past him. The morning was quite nice especially after all that had happened in the last few months. The hospital was closer to the edge of the city so he took his time taking the long way around to it. The secondary reason was to survey the damage done to the city and to find out where the harder problems would come from. Somewhere along the way Elena's grip loosened up and when he turned his head slightly he saw that she was starting to enjoy herself as well. He smiled and continued cruising on towards their destination.

 

“Hey Rude? Why does riding a motorcycle scare Reno? I'd think flying would be scarier,” Elena asked once they arrived at the hospital.

 

“Just after the war, when he arrived here in Midgar with me, he tried learning how to drive one. One of the SOLDIER's was teaching him and apparently turned the kid loose way before he was ready. Reno got into a rather nasty accident. Lucky we had some of the best medical teams around, still do actually and they were able to patch him up without leaving any physical scars. But they couldn't do anything about the mental ones, since then has avoided them like a plague when he can get away with it.”

 

Elena snorted softly. “I don't blame him!”

 

Their conversation quieted when they entered the hospital lobby in respect for those people sitting around talking. No directions were needed as the big man lead the petite blonde in the direction of the elevators. As they waited patiently, an elderly couple joined them as well as a couple of nurses. When the door opened, Rude politely held the door open for everyone to enter before stepping in himself. He then punched the requested floor buttons. Again he held the door open for the elderly couple when the elevator arrived at the requested floor.

 

“Such a nice young man, isn't he father?” the elderly woman said with a smile and few pats on the arm.

 

The elderly man looked up at him with a squint. “Aye mother, that he is.” He held his wife's arm. “Kinda reminds me of that young man...” the rest was cut off as the doors closed.

 

Elena smothered a giggle behind her hand, eyes dancing with merriment.

 

Rude gave her a look then let out a sigh and shook his head. Every time he was in a hospital or the like, the same thing happened. Though it happened much less when Reno was with him since the hyperactive redhead tended to scare off people even if he didn't mean to. When they arrived at the ICU floor, they stepped off the elevator and headed to the closed doors. Rude pulled his card out and swiped it through the reader. A moment later, there was several beeps and the door opened. The blowers set over the door kicked on automatically. Once the outer doors closed, Rude had to swipe the card though the reader for the inner door as well before they opened. The first thing that greeted the two was the main nurses station since there was only one way in or out of the ICU for visitors, the nurses had their own way. Rude signed the visitor book then waited for Elena to also sign in.

 

“Good morning, how can I help you?” asked one of the nurses on duty.

 

“Good morning,” Rude replied, “we're here to see Reno if it's possible?”

 

“Just a moment,” the nurse nodded then looked down at the charts. “Let me call his nurse, just a moment.” She picked up a phone and placed the call. Several moments later she hung up then smiled. “Room 1035,” she said standing up and leaned over the counter slightly to point the direction. “Just head down that way till you reach the second corridor on the left. You'll see another Nurses station, he's right across from it.”

 

Rude and Elena both nodded, murmuring a thank you to the nurse before heading in the indicated direction. It wasn't hard at all to find the room in question. When the stepped in the Nursing assistant that had been sitting in the room looked up and smile. “Doctor Jorgen is due in to check up on him in the next half hour,” she said standing up and putting away the book she had been reading. She slipped out of the room to take a break while they were visiting.

 

Rude nodded his thanks before slipping off his jacket and setting it in the chair. “Hey pal,” Rude said softly as he leaned over the edge of the bed rails, being careful of the IV and lines and brushed loose strands of fiery red hair from the pale face. “I brought someone to see you.” He gestured for Elena to come closer to the bed. “Just cause he's unresponsive, it doesn't mean he can't hear us,” he informed her.

 

“Hiya Reno,” she said. “We kinda miss you being around. Pretty boring without you're pranks and trouble making.” She slipped her hand in his lax one and squeezed gently. “Don't worry about working too hard when you get back on your feet, the boss has given us a couple months off.”

 

The sound of someone clearing his or her throat alerted Rude to the presence of Dr. Jorgen. He looked at Elena a moment then nodded. “Keep Reno company I'll be right back.”

 

Elena nodded in return, “Sure thing big guy.” Once Rude stepped away from the bed and went to talk with the doctor she hesitantly brought a hand up to Reno's face. Very lightly she traced the bright red tattoos that adorned his face. “Once your up and going again, I'd like to hear about these.” She paused a moment contemplating her next words, moistening her lips as she did. “Actually, I'd like to get to know you Reno. I realized when you went missing, that I didn't really know anything about you except that you're a real pain in the ass sometimes.”

 

“That he can be,” Rude said coming back to the lithe redhead's bed. “Looks like we got here in time. He's going to be take down to be prepped for surgery in a few minutes.” He leaned on the railing as he gently ran a hand though the red strands. “From what the doc said, this is going to be the easiest of the procedures but at the same time the longest.”

 

Elena looked up at the big guy then nodded. “What are they going to do?” she asked.

 

“All the bones that had been broken then healed incorrectly are going to be re-broken and reset properly. Doc says they are going to be using the Materia Stylus so they won't have to open him up.”

 

The blonde winced. “That's good, what happens after that?” She had a feeling that she didn't really want to know.

 

“Doc?” Rude turned to look at the older man who was still standing at the entrance to Reno's cubical.

 

Jorgen smiled slightly. “Once all his bones are properly reset and on the mend, we'll be taking care of the marks that have been left behind. Are you familiar with the treatment a burn patient gets?” he asked. When both shook their heads he nodded. “Ah, I see. Well the basic gist is that we'll have to shave off the area in question then graft on new skin. In this case we use skin taken from undamaged portions of his body.”

 

Both Turks made faces at the description of what was going to take place. Even though they had seen all sorts of things in the history of their careers, this was not a pleasant image.

 

Dr. Jorgen just chuckled softly. “Don't worry, Reno will be kept in an induced coma until everything is healed. Then we'll bring him out of it slowly so he doesn't have any problems or if he does we can catch it early. Once he's awake it's just a matter of physical therapy.” He glanced down the hall a moment then smiled again. “As much as I hate doing this, I'm afraid it's time for Reno to be prepped.”

 

Rude and Elena said their good byes to the redhead then stepped out of the way as the nurses moved everything around so that the bed and all it's attending machinery could be wheeled out of the room. The trip back down was rather quiet and somber seeing how both were lost in their own thoughts. The petite blonde didn't make a fuss on the ride from the hospital to Reno's apartment. It was only after they got there and saw what the place looked like that the two realized just how bad Reno had gotten over time.