Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Between the Lines ❯ A Distant Scream ( Chapter 1 )

Between the Lines

 

Description: What happened to Reno and Rude in Advent Children during the times they were off camera. How and why they showed up where they did when they did. Rated T for language and descriptions of torture.

 

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and its characters are the property of Square-Enix. Everything in this fic is just speculation on my part. I have no insider information. I also have no money, so suing me would be pointless.

 

One: A Distant Scream

 

"Damn …"

 

Reno drummed his fingers on the shiny black box in his lap. He was dying for a drink. Several, actually. Enough alcohol to drown his brain so he wouldn't have to see Elena's face anymore. The pain etched in it as she thrust the … thing … into his hands. The black spiderweb of blood growing from her shoulder.

 

She told me to go. I only did what she said. "Get out," she said. So I did. It's not like it's my fault. And it's not like it's the first time I've left someone to die …

 

But none of the other times had been this personal. He wasn't exactly friends with Tseng and Elena. Hell, most days he didn't even like them, and they had frequently made it very clear what they thought of him. But they had been through a lot together -- all that shit with Sephiroth, two years of sifting through the remains of ShinRa, both literally and figuratively, and more recently, babysitting an increasingly moody Rufus. Sometimes, to Reno, it seemed that Rude, Elena, and Tseng were the only ones who understood. They were more than Turks; they were a team.

 

A team, damn it, and team members didn't fly off to safety and leave half of the team behind.

 

… Tseng, twirling like a stupid plastic ballerina on a cheap music box, then collapsing to the ground, his eternally perfect hair flying wildly in the wind from the chopper's blades … Elena's soft whimpers of pain seeping into his ears from the headset as the fog covered the crater below, hiding the scene from his eyes … and then static. Nothing but static, empty and terrible.

 

"Damn," Reno muttered again, halting the drumming of his fingers just long enough to ball them into an angry fist.

 

Next to him in the driver's seat, Rude carefully cleared his throat. "Reno …" he began, his deep voice nearly masked by the roar of the road.

 

"Don't try to cheer me up," Reno cut him off, stabbing a finger in his direction. "I am in no mood to be cheered up."

 

"All right," his partner replied, unperturbed by Reno's sharp tone.

 

They continued on in silence, accompanied only by the incessant thumping of Reno's restless fingers. A green sign shot by, and Reno's brain registered the words 'Healin, 10 miles'.

 

Out of nowhere, the theme music from the Gold Saucer began to play, but the bright, happy notes were muffled as if someone had thrown a giant pillow over the entire park in an attempt to smother it. Reno shifted onto his left hip, balancing the box on one knee, and plunged his right hand into his pocket.

 

Behind his sunglasses, Rude rolled his eyes. "When are you going to change your ringtone?"

 

Reno grinned at him as he pulled the phone free. "Beat me at poker, and I'll consider it."

 

Rude snorted. "That'd be no problem if you didn't cheat."

 

Reno's retort never reached his lips. Instead, all the air rushed from his lungs in a giant breath of relief. The caller ID read 'Elena cell'. "Finally," he said to himself.

 

He flipped the phone open and lifted it to his ear. "Hey, you heartless whore, it's about time you checked in. Rude was worried sick over you." Rude rolled his eyes again, but Reno could see the relief in his face as well. "So, where are you? Rude and I will come pick you up soon as we're done taking care of junior."

 

The phone had offered nothing but silence as Reno pressed forward, riding the wave of cheerful mischief as his worry evaporated. But when no snippy voice replied, he forced himself to stop talking and listen instead, and what he heard made his stomach turn. A soft, mocking chuckle, and then a light, high, but definitely male voice.

 

"I'm sorry, Reno, but your 'whore' is a bit busy right now. You'll have to catch up with her later."

 

"Who -- who is this?" Reno demanded. "Where's Elena?"

 

"No, I think I'm the one who gets to ask questions. That is if you don't want me to return your friends to you in boxes … lots of little boxes …"

Tseng's slightly muffled voice burst through the phone. "No, Reno! Don't tell them anything! That's an order!"

 

A second later, his scream pierced Reno's ear, causing him to jerk the phone away. The terrible sound continued, rising in pitch to an almost animal wail of pain and suffering. Underneath Tseng's agony, Elena's voice could barely be heard, calling out his name in distress, and then she had joined him, her shrill cries more than adequately describing what was happening on the other end of the line.

 

"Stop!" Reno cried into the phone. "I'll answer your questions. I'll tell you what you want. Just stop! Stop hurting them!"

 

The screams faded into a long silence. Holding his breath, Reno waited. He felt the car stop and realized Rude had pulled over to the shoulder. He stared at Reno, also waiting, his face pale and grim.

 

The chuckle returned first, then the strange voice. "I see you understand now. Good."

 

"Yeah, yeah, I understand," Reno snapped, his anger flaring with the realization that he was being played with. "Just ask your questions, okay?"

 

"I just have the one: Where's Mother?"

 

What the hell? "Look, man, if I don't know who you are, how am I supposed to find your Mom for you?"

 

"We know you have her," the voice continued, ignoring Reno's comment. "Don't bother trying to deny it. Elena here wisely decided that her pretty eyes were more important than a bit of information, so we know she passed Mother to you before you took off."

 

Reno's stomach had lurched at the mention of Elena's eyes, but the rest of the stranger's sentence ended all his intestinal gymnastics by dumping a ton of ice into his gut. His eyes strayed to the box on his knees. The scientists in Edge had wrapped it up neatly like some sort of sadistic present, complete with a bright yellow "ribbon" encircling it.

 

The guy wanted the cells. And he was calling Jenova "Mother".

 

Oh shit.

 

"It comes down to this: You give us Mother, and we return your friends without any further damage to them. Now, where is she?"

 

In my lap. Yeah, that would go over well with Rufus.

 

Rufus!

 

"I, uh, I don't know," Reno stammered, ideas flooding into his head in a jumble. "Only the President knows that."

 

In spite of the terrible delivery, the stranger seemed to swallow the lie. "Fine. Put him on then."

 

"I can't. He's not here." A low growl emanating from the phone caused Reno to add, "Honestly! But I'm in the car on the way to see him. I'll have him call you as soon as we get there. It should be --" He looked to Rude for help.

 

"Ten minutes. Fifteen tops," Rude said, shifting the car back into gear and pulling it out onto the road. He slammed down on the gas pedal; the acceleration knocked Reno's head sharply against the headrest.

 

"Ten minutes. Fifteen tops," Reno repeated into the phone. He rubbed the back of his head with his free hand and took a moment to shoot an annoyed glance at his partner.

 

"Fine, but no later or I might start … removing things. Understand?"

 

Reno repressed a string of curses and instead answered, "Yeah, I understand."

"Good." The phone clicked, signaling the end of the connection.

 

Slowly, Reno closed the phone and returned it to his pocket. His fingers spread out over the top of the box; the nervous energy in them had disappeared.

 

After a minute, Rude said quietly, "Damn."

 

A cold smile yanked up the corners of Reno's lips. "Took the words right out of my mouth, partner."