Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Past Grudges, Saving Graces ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter II
The dangers of curiosity, angry co-workers, and a mayhem filled reunion of enemies...

He was cold.

There were dozens of other things to worry about, but it was all Reno could notice.

It was cold, he was hungry, and it hurt to breathe. Now the list was near completion.

He sat up with a groan and rubbed the back of his head. He was sitting on a grimy old cot in some sort of old, abandoned basement. The room was dusty, dirty and smelled vaguely of old water, sawdust, and mold.

That man... Platinum white hair and a striking pink scar... Where had he seen him before? And why was he so intent on finding the rest of the Turks? Reno wished he could remember why the man seemed so familiar.

Being hated was nothing new to Reno. Even under Reeve's presidency, the Turks weren't trusted. Even though the Turks were no longer quite as terrible and bloodthirsty as the had been, they were still hated. In a way, Reno was actually surprised that something like this hadn't happened to him or the other Turks, earlier.

He silently cursed to himself. He'd been stupid... He shouldn't have underestimated his stalker so.

If Tseng was still alive... Reno knew what Tseng would say to him for his foolishness. Now he was paying for such ignorance.

The door unlocked and opened. Reno shot the door a glance, his eyes meeting those of Kayce.

"Ready to talk now?"

"I don't like this."

Yuffie wandered the western shores her home island. For the third day in a row, Yuffie thought she heard screaming, the sound growing louder and more pained as she headed west.

She tightened her hold on her Conformer. Something was going on... Something wasn't right, and she was going to find out what it was.

Jana's old Chocobo wherehouse... but she died years ago...

It was a large, one story old building by the beaches of Wutai. An old Wutainese woman who simply went by the name of Jana had bred prize winning chocobos, up until her untimely death. Yuffie couldn't remember anyone buying or claiming the old woman's property after her death. For all she remembered, it was abandoned.

But, if it was abandoned, then what was going on in there?

Yuffie crept to the building as silently as possible. Well, silently until she stepped to close to a tree full of birds.

Angry birds intent of defending their nests.

"Damn!"

She hear the crackle of electricity as the begun readying themselves for attack.

Run now and live to fight another day... Yuffie ran until a rather bulky man stepped out of the building.

A rather bulky man with a gun.

She heard the click of the gun and stopped in her tracks. Yuffie was quick and agile, but not moreso than a flying bullet.

"Gawd!" Yuffie said as she angrily placed her Conformer on the ground, raising her hands in back of her head.

"...Dammit."

Elena Cole sipped her latte impatiently as she stared across the table at her fellow Turk, Rude Davenport and her new employer and president, Reeve Harrison.

She slammed the cup on the table, foam and coffee splashing onto the hard wood. "Where the hell is he?"

"... I haven't heard from him in nearly a week." Rude said calmly.

"What?!" Elena and Reeve both exclaimed in unison.

"Well, it's not uncommon for Reno to disappear for a few days..." Rude's voice was deep and slightly tinged with worry for his best friend. "but never for this long. He'd get drunk and stay at home sometimes, but only for three days at most."

"This doesn't sound good." Reeve said, pondering aloud. He looked up at the other two Turks. "If he doesn't contact you within the next two days, you have my authorization to begin a search."

Reno sighed painfully as he drew his now tattered and torn suit jacket tighter around his shoulders. It was getting cold in the basement, and he had a feeling it was about to get colder.

How long had he been down there? A few days? A week? They came in every day, beating him in hopes that he'd give in and tell them where to find Rude and Elena.

Reno grinned morosely. Sephiroth'd be freezing his ass in hell before he would give in.

The door opened again and Reno involuntarily shuddered. Twice in a day, now?

He squinted up at the door, and watched what appeared to be a woman being thrown down to the ground.

"Get in and shut up!"

She got to her feet, diligently, and dusted off her pants. "You can't do this to me! Do you have any idea who I am?!"

Reno heard a man laugh. "Of course I know who you are! And believe me, you, you'll be making a lot of ransom money for me and my men... just you wait, princess."

The woman snorted angrily. "Let me out of here, goddammit!" She launched herself at the door, just in time for the man to close and lock it.

Reno laughed softly to himself... whoever she was, she had guts.

She pounded the door. "You'll regret the day you ever messed with Yuffie Sakura Kisaragi!" She yelled angrily.

The smile on Reno's face fell. Shit... Not Avalanche girl...

Yuffie paced the room for about five minutes, until finally growling under her breath and resigning to a bench on the other side of the room.

"You shouldn't have been so loud."

Yuffie looked up, startled. She hadn't noticed anyone in the room with her. Then she saw the figure on the cot across from her bench. He was hunched in the shadows, shivering slightly against the wall, a navy blue jacked hanging over his stooped shoulders.

"And why the hell not?" She yelled. She was not in the mood for this.

"They might not feed us."

She stood up, annoyed. "And who the hell are you?"

Silence.

She walked across the room. "I asked you a..." Yuffie gasped. Navy blue suit. Flaming red hair.

No... What's his name? Turk-boy... Chicago? Dallas? Phoenix?

She took a defensive step back and felt a hand grab onto her arm.

"Like what you see?" Reno looked at her, amused emerald green meeting startled gray eyes. He released her arm and gazed back at the far wall.

She clenched her teeth in annoyance. Reno.

Some things would never change...

A/N: Well, there's another part. Hope it's coming along somewhat well... I know the chapters aren't tremendously long, but that's the way my muses have been working lately. *cracks whip* I'll straighten them out soon enough.

Other than the strange lengths of my stories, my muses have been working rather well... The next part shouldn't take that long to come out... I've been writing quite a lot lately (Finished my Turks X-mas angst story and this part in a twelve hour span... wow).

So, 'till next time... Happy Holidays to all! ^_^