[thread] After Epitaphs...

[flyboy-red.livejournal.com]

Characters: Tseng, Elena, Reno and Rude
Progress: Complete
Summary: Regrouping after the Epitaph ordeal
Location: Dali
Date: January 1804
Warnings: Violence, swearing... Turks?


After what his friends had done, and after seeing Cissnei and Yuffie, Reno was in the worst shape imaginable. He was probably in equally as bad a state as when the building had collapsed on him. His nose was bloodied (probably broken), his right eye was blackened, left wrist snapped again, a gash on his stomach, one on his back... yeah, none of that compared to how angry he was.

How Rude and Tseng could turn on him, like they had... it was painful. It was worse than any injury he could get. They were two of his three best friends and getting no answer from them as to why they did that...

Broken wrist hanging at his side, his good hand holding that rather deep wound Yuffie had given him, Reno made his way slowly through Dali, trying to maybe find Elena and see what the Hell had made Rude and Tseng and even Cissnei attack him. He didn't even stick around to wait for the others to get out of the Pyramids.

Reno had lost a lot of blood but he was still standing, despite how oddly grey his skin was going. He wasn't in a good shape. He'd barely escaped death at the hands of his partner and it was a sheer fluke mixed with adrenaline that he'd managed to take Tseng down.

Long story short; Reno didn't trust his partner or boss. They'd tried to kill him. Elena (if she didn't damn well finish him off) was his only ally.

Comments

[te-dirige.livejournal.com]

Thankfully, Elena had relieved Tseng's hand of the potion bottle - he would have had to make a tough choice elsewise. Now though he nodded at the approaching Rude - and stepped into Reno's path as the other went flying at his partner.
"RENO!" Tseng commanded, his voice that carefully tinted edge of command as he caught the red-head's fist in his free palm (painfully). "Stand DOWN."

They didn't need any more injuries here. They'd all seemingly dealt with copies of their own - and that was enough fighting for one day.

[alwaysarookie.livejournal.com]

Elena just nodded her head at Rude, not sure how trusting she was of her own voice. She felt rather pathetic, in a way...Rude and Reno were obviously more injured then her, and yet she was the one sitting there shaking like a...a little girl.

Still, she managed to stand up when Reno hurled himself past her, and was grabbing at his shoulders to try and slow him down, though between his moving and her hands shaking, she probably wasn't doing a very good job.

"Reno, stop!"

[piercedgloves.livejournal.com]

He had no idea why Reno was lunging at him and attempting to break his face, but he was still on edge from before. When Reno hurtled toward him, he immediately raised a hand to block, letting go of his injured shoulder to be ready for a counter as he stood. Tseng and Elena got there first, though.

It had been an awful day, and now his partner was attacking him -- for real, and not because he'd been spit out of some statue. Staring at Reno for a moment, Rude turned, holding his shoulder again. "I don't know what your problem is, but fix it."

Cool indifference would work better than actually letting on just how much this hurt, even if the sudden movements meant blood was running down his arm again and his shake was worse than before.

[flyboy-red.livejournal.com]

Reno was breathless and angry, and as Elena and Tseng grabbed hold of him, he pushed Tseng's hand away fast, almost as if he was disgusted by the man even touching him. Wavering slightly, he slumped to sit on the crate, gripping Elena's arm for support.

"You're the one that fucked me up, man. That's what my fucking problem is," Reno hissed at Rude, his bloodied face full of anger and what would obviously be a lot of hurt. He was so damn upset at the idea of Rude attacking him.

Turning his gaze on Tseng, he kept his anger in place. "And you! Trying to fucking shoot me, man!! How did you guys even get out of the Pyramids?"

[te-dirige.livejournal.com]

Tseng paused for a moment, giving Reno a long and calculating look.

"I am going to account this as shock affecting your ability to process clearly, Reno." Tseng began in an almost soothing tone that was more than a little uncharacteristic for him. "And I will inform you that this world has been beset by some form of creature called Epitaphs, and that their main goal seems to be that of attacking others with copies of those close to them. If you would check your phone, you'll see that others have also been attacked - and some have faired worse than we."

He could see the rebellious denial already start to form on Reno's face and cut it off with a slashed hand in the air between them. "No arguments. For one, proof would also be that I was seemingly attacked by you - and I doubt you recall initiating such a thing, not to mention that I left the false you with rather specific wounds you don't seem to have. For another, Reno." And Tseng's voice went hard, and cold. "If I wanted you dead, you know I wouldn't have beaten you to do it."

And that was it - Tseng was not going to take insult from the suspicion because Reno had obviously been injured enough to impair his reasoning . The Turks knew all too well that if Tseng wanted any of them dead, he was not the type to make it a fight; fair or otherwise. There would just be a shot.
It wouldn't be the first time.

[alwaysarookie.livejournal.com]

Just because Reno was yelling instead of attacking didn't mean Elena was going to risk letting go of him just yet. It wasn't until he sat down that she loosed said grip, letting him rest against her.

"It wasn't them, Reno. Really. Didn't you see the statues? They make copies of people. You zapped me, remember? But it wasn't you."

Her hand on Reno's arm is still shaking faintly, perhaps as an unconscious reminder.

[piercedgloves.livejournal.com]

If turning around and hitting Reno for real wouldn't hurt as much, not to mention piss off Tseng, Rude probably would have. As it was, Tseng and Elena were taking care of explaining the business with the epitaphs to him, so Rude just spoke coldly. "I could snap your neck without breaking a sweat. I wouldn't waste time making my partner look like shark bait."

Most people would have said something like 'hamburger', and Rude normally would have. But first the attack by the epitaphs, watching as something that looked like Reno and something that looked like Tseng had tried to kill both him and Elena, and then killing them first, only to be attacked by the real Reno like this was fracturing Rude's almost impenetrable armor. 'Shark bait' was just a throw-back to his Costa del Sol origins; not a large one, and one most people wouldn't recognize, but he'd tried to leave that behind when he became a Turk, on Tseng's orders.

[flyboy-red.livejournal.com]

Reno's eyes widened once he was aware of the facts. Unlike most people who would've tried to get more answers or just move on, Reno buried his aching face in his good hand, sighing heavily. "Shit..." Taking a slow breath, he looked up at Tseng, his blue eyes wide, his face full of frustration. "I didn't exactly have a chance to check my phone."

And then his gaze wandered to Rude and he couldn't resist punching to crate he was sat on. "Damnit." Pushing himself to his feet, Reno held his wrist to his stomach, pressing it against his deep gash. "I gotta lay down before I throw up..." Moving past Rude, Reno glanced to him again, his good hand squeezing Rude's good arm in the best silent apology he could manage.

[te-dirige.livejournal.com]

Everyone was on edge, everyone was injured, and this was no longer a meeting Tseng wanted to have outdoors where an audience might gather. It wasn't as though they had enemies here so much as the potential was something that made him worry. They didn't need anything else to go wrong.

"Reno, head upstairs. Elena, make sure he gets there." Tseng ordered, knowing that at least being able to rest and feel secure would help everyone. Elena was in the best shape to haul Reno if needed - and he and his partner needed at least a few moments to let the reality of matters sink in. "I'll be up momentarily to address your wounds - we're going to require additional help, it seems." And now he'd have to take Rydia's suggestion of calling for it - not that he had much choice. It was already apparent there weren't much in the way of resources in Dali.

Tseng handed Elena the hi-potion he still held- "Make sure he drinks that." It'd help (or so he hoped). When the pair were on their way, Tseng reached into his jacket and removed the last potion bottle, offering this one to Rude. "Here."
He hadn't missed that 'de Sol line sneaking back into Rude's voice - once the way the partners were looking at each other. This was going to be a mess to clean up indeed.

[alwaysarookie.livejournal.com]

Elena nodded at Tseng's order, putting an arm lightly around Reno to assist him inside. "If you throw up on me I'm going to shoot you, Reno," she said in that perfectly cheerful voice she had when she really, really meant something. The shaking wasn't so bad when she was really focused on holding something, so she actually felt a bit better as she was helping Reno into the inn and into the room.

She got him into the room and sat him down on the edge of the bed, handing him the high potion. "Drink this. Lie down." They weren't requests, at all. When he was finally laying down, and she had taken a moment to check him over and make sure he wasn't going to bleed to death...she let herself sit down on the bed, and after a moment or two of consideration, curled up into a ball next to him. Maybe sleeping would make said shakes feel better.

[piercedgloves.livejournal.com]

Reno's silent apology wasn't met with much. Rude resolutely did not pull away, but he didn't acknowledge the gesture, either. It was possible that he was being a bit irrational, but that only made things worse. Turks were trained against that sort of things, if only because they were very, very good at killing people, and if they were irrational... well, a lot of people could end up dead. Rude had always been extremely good at keeping his emotions in check, but not with this.

With Elena and Reno gone, Rude shook his head to get Tseng to hold onto the bottle a bit longer. If he was going to take something that would heal him a bit, he had to get his gloves off first. His hands were rather badly messed up, both the usual wear-and-tear from fighting (though this was worse than usual) and from grabbing the fake Reno's EMR. That was the largest concern; Rude didn't want his burnt flesh accidentally merging with his gloves as it healed.

Gingerly pulling both gloves off, scowling at the sight of his hands, Rude took the offered hi-potion, careful not to spill it. He didn't say anything, though; Tseng had seen what had happened plain as day, and was better at reading between the lines than any of them.

[flyboy-red.livejournal.com]

Reno put up with Elena's mothering silently, which was never a good sign, but she'd understand why. She'd seen the shit hit the fan and everything blow up as it had, so at least he didn't think she'd push him to talk much.

He was glad for her attention to him for a moment and drank the potion without complaint. Of course, when she curled up on the bed, Reno leaned up on one elbow, reaching out his good hand to stroke her hair gently. He'd been shocked more times than he was willing to admit and knew how horrible the first few times were. He was probably just used to it by now.

"Trap your hands between your knees, the shakes will stop after a little while." Discreetly, he traced his fingers down to check her pulse in her neck. It wasn't irregular so at least she wasn't going to have a heart attack. He knew well how to deal with someone who'd been electrocuted.

[te-dirige.livejournal.com]

They needed at least a few moments to settle - Tseng couldn't spare more than that, but Rude was always the rock of the group, after him.
Even then, this had still cut deeply - and not just in the physical sense.

"A false betrayal still feels like a betrayal. Especially when it comes from someone you trust with your life." Tseng spoke quietly, distantly- addressing the crate where Reno had sat, not Rude who stood beside him. The bald Turk never dealt well with emotions he couldn't shut away - or punch out.
"It's even more of a betrayal when those you trust suspect you of the same. One feels they should know better, even if one had a moment of uncertainty themselves."
Tseng's eyes travelled across the bloodstains Reno had left behind, over to the staircase, still not looking directly at Rude. "It hurts even more when that partner is trusted beyond simply being a Turk."
The last line was a little more pointed - but Tseng wanted to leave Rude some chance to avoid the conversation, if he really needed to.

[piercedgloves.livejournal.com]

Any argument Rude could have (not to say that he would have) died at Tseng's last sentence. Still having the occasional violent twitch from the electric shocks he had received, part of Rude's mind hoped Tseng wouldn't notice or think any more of his twitch at the man's words, though he was smart enough to realize that it was unlikely. He wasn't going to lie to him, either, and... well, if the man already knew (or suspected, and Tseng's suspicions were often correct), there wasn't, in Rude's mind, much of a reason to deny it to his boss.

"...He didn't want you to know. Or Elena and Rufus." Of course, Rude hadn't either; they had wanted to figure it out for themselves, without overwhelming outside influences. But then statues had started spitting out copies of friends, and everything had turned ugly. Even now, though, Rude was putting Reno in front of him: he was hurt, yes, but he was already trying to protect his partner anyway. In fact, if the problem between the two of them because of the epitaphs wasn't treated correctly, he would continue to put Reno ahead of himself, and it would only lead to more trouble in the future.

[te-dirige.livejournal.com]

Tseng nodded slightly. Of course Reno hadn't - and neither would have Rude, for that matter. It wasn't that it was a private matter - it was simply that neither of them were particularly good at interpersonal relationships at the best of times. Something with that much implied meaning would have been difficult to reconcile - which was why it had taken them so damned long to even get to this point. He'd honestly expected it to come about after the whole mess with the clones, and when it hadn't...

Well, it was about time. Although possibly also ill-timed...

"Understandably." Tseng offered, voice quiet. "And I don't intend to mention it - now. It's been a difficult day for you both. For all of us." Tseng decided that was enough, and made his way towards the staircase. "Just be aware, that no matter what may or may not happen between you two - or anyone else: the choices you make are your own. The only thing I expect of you, both of you, is to be Turks."

He climbed the stairs. 'only Turks' was, in many ways, a gross understatement. That didn't matter - it wasn't any less true. Reno and Rude would sort matters out between them once they'd had time to settle and heal.

And if they didn't, Tseng would fix them.

Hopefully.