The First Time
Reno moved slowly through the rubble at the foot of what had once been the impressive headquarters of Shinra Incorporated. He held a bottle of alcohol wrapped securely in a dirty brown bag in one hand and his spark stick in the other. It was almost funny what kind of things survived a massived explosion. A bottle of scotch could make it, but the bum who'd bought it was as dead as a doornail. A bitter laugh escaped Reno's lips as he starred around at the burnt furniture and broken glass which littered the pavement around him.
"My, how the mighty have fallen." Reno muttered, taking another long sip from his bottle as he made his way forward, occasionally stumbling over loose rocks as he walked.
It was strange, but as he walked through this graveyard of broken concrete and twisted iron, Reno felt he could hear Rufus' voice, still as cold as it had been during that first meeting.
"This is your latest addition to the Turks? You must be joking." Rufus said, raising an eyebrow as he studied the ill-kept, red-haired recruit who was, at present, leaning insolently against the young vice-president's desk.
"Sir." Tseng answered quickly, flustered both by Reno's behavior and Rufus' obvious disdain. "Reno has scored higher on the tests then any other man we've ever had within our ranks... with the exception of Vincent Valentine, that is."
"Obviously, these tests have precious little to do with discipline or personal hygiene." Rufus replied as he continued to scrutinize the oblivious canadate.. His dark blue eyes narrowed slightly as Reno picked up a folder from his desk and began to flip through it with the casual air of someone who made a habit of attempting to annoy his superiors and Rufus had to admit that the damnable was quite good at what he did.
"Reno!" Tseng spat taking a quick step forward, snatching the folder from Reno's hands and replacing it on Rufus' desk where it belonged. "Sorry, sir." He murmured, his gaze trained on the floor somewhere near Rufus' feet.
"Hm." Rufus replied, never taking his eyes from Reno for an instant. "Could you wait outside for a moment, Tseng? I would like a word in private with the brat."
"Yes, sir, of course, sir." Tseng murmured quickly, throwing a last warning look in Reno's general direction before exiting the room and shutting the door behind him.
After a moment of tense silence, Reno glanced up at Rufus and smiled broadly Oh yes, he was very good at what he did. "What can I do for you, sir?"
Rufus raised an eyebrow at the redhead, giving no outward indication as to how Reno's sudden change of moods startled him. "How old are you? You don't look near old enough for this line of work."
Reno smirked at this, obviously finding something about Rufus terribly amusing. "I'm eighteen, sir. I grew up in the Sector Six Slums. Down there time passes a little differently than up here in the Shinra Suite."
"Really." Rufus spat, his gaze suddenly ice-cold, the only indication that Reno's words had hit some nerve inside him. "Do tell me more."
"Really." Reno answered, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was treading on dangerous ground. "You see the streets of Sector Six are what we call the real world. It's tough and it's nasty and you wouldn't last a minute to be completely truthful. Not that you'll ever have to experience the harsh realities of the real world, not as long as you've got Daddy to take care of you, Pretty Boy."
"No." Rufus murmured, his hands clenched into bloodless fists just outside of Reno's line of sight. "I haven't the least idea of what your 'real world' is like, Slum Trash, and I never will. For though I may allow you to become a member of the Turks, deep done you will still be scum from Sector Six. However, since you seem so confident of your skills that you're willing to risk this great opportunity to speak to me with that kind of disrespect, I'll give you one mission to prove yourself. If you fuck it up in any way, and I do mean any way, you're back on the streets with the other scum. Just where you belong."
Reno smiled tightly, his blue eyes suddenly serious and his body tense with anger. "Right."
"Right. Now get the hell out of my office, I have far more important matters to attend to then this." Rufus spat, his eyes blank of all emotions as he watched Reno storm out of his office.
*****
Reno smirked at the memory as he kicked listlessly at a charred paperweight with the Shinra Electric Company logo barely noticeable upon it's blackened face. They'd hated each other during that first meeting. Reno still wasn't completely certain what it had been that had made him unable to resist the urge to give the vice-president such a hard time. Made him so blatantly insult the man who held his future in the palm of his hand. Maybe it had been just good old-fashioned stupidity... or maybe it had been something else.
"Either way, I really showed him." He muttered, taking another quick drink from his bottle before flopping down on what must have once been a soft, cushioned desk chair. It had barely survived the explosion from the looks of it. It was blackened and one of it's arms was missing, but it was better than sitting on the ground, Reno reasoned as he leaned back in the chair and promptly fell over backwards, hitting the ground with a thud as the back of the chair fell off.
"Damn." Reno muttered, rubbing the back of his head and taking another drink from his bottle as he lay on his back, legs still propped over what remained of the chair.
"See! What did I tell you? I'm a Turk now and even Pretty Boy Shinra can't do a damn thing about it." Reno laughed, taking another drink from his glass as he got to his feet and flopped down in the nearest upright chair. "Ain't that right, Tseng? I didn't fuck up at all so the little bastard will have to admit how good I am, won't he?"
Tseng flinched against Reno's language but nodded just the same. "That's correct. The Vice-President will have to admit that you are a great asset to the Turks."
Rude laughed, a grin splitting his usual serious expression. "Wouldn't count on that. He's not just a cold-hearted bastard. He's also a stubborn, cold-hearted bastard. That kid wouldn't admit he was wrong if it would save his life."
"Nonsense." Tseng scoffed, "He may be stubborn, but he's not stupid."
"Well, that's good enough for me." Reno interjected, finishing the last of his drink and slamming the empty glass down on the table. "I think I'm gonna go up and see the little bastard right now. I don't wanna miss the look on his face when he finds out the results of this mission."
"Reno, you're drunk. Don't do anything stupid." Rude replied, his eyes narrowing beneath his dark glasses.
"Ah, come on, you're no fun, Rude." Reno stretched and stood, snatching the thin brown envelope that Tseng had given him only moments before. "I just want to make my report."
"Then do it tomorrow. At a decent hour. When you're sober."
"Nah, what would be the fun in that?"
"You should listen to Rude's advice. Vice-President Shinra is probably asleep in his rooms and he won't be happy to see you."
"Don't worry so much, guys! I'm just gonna give the little ball-buster a hard time." Still grinning widely, Reno turned and stumbled out of the bar, his destination more than obvious.
"Think he'll be all right?" Rude asked after a moment's silence.
Tseng shrugged, taking another sip from his glass. "Probably. Rufus keeps the majority of his gun collection at the office."
"That's a comforting thought."
