Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Between the Lines ❯ Black, White, and Shades of Silver ( Chapter 4 )

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.

 

Four: Black, White, and Shades of Silver

 

The door slowly swung inward, revealing Reno's sheepish face. Rude resisted the urge to yell at him. Cloud had been this close to caving in. Rude had seen the indecision in those deep blue eyes as they flickered over the President's outstretched hand. But then Reno had opened his big mouth and ruined it.

 

In all the years they had been partners, Rude had never wanted so badly to deck Reno as he did right at that moment.

 

Reno shut the door behind him and, head drooping, shoulders sagging, shuffled over to Rufus in shame. "I--I'm sorry, sir. That was really stupid of me."

 

No shit. But to Rude's surprise, the President just laughed.

 

"That's quite all right, Reno. I never expected him to say yes. And, although it would have been easier to just order him to do what I wanted, I have a feeling he would be more trouble than he's worth." From underneath the cloth that covered most of his face, one of Rufus's small mocking smiles peeked out at them. "I have enough trouble employees as it is."

 

He turned the wheelchair and directed it towards the window, presumably so he could watch Cloud's departure. Rude rounded on Reno, intending to berate him in spite of the President's forgiveness, but the sight of his poor partner stilled his tongue. Reno looked as if only the shock from not being verbally pistol-whipped was keeping him from collapsing to the floor in sheer relief. Shaking his head, Rude followed Rufus. He would get Reno back some other time.

 

"Strange," Rufus said as Rude approached, although he didn't know whether the President was speaking to him or just talking to himself. "Physically he seems as strong and sharp as before. But mentally … I didn't expect him to be so weak. I wonder if …" The fingers of Rufus's right hand twitched slightly, a gesture that Rude had come to realize meant that the President was thinking of his Geostigma.

 

Did Cloud have the disease as well? It was certainly possible, and it would explain a lot of things. The Cloud of old would never have even considered joining forces with them no matter what kind of honeyed promises Rufus offered. That Cloud was famous for wiping the floor with any and all ShinRa employees he came across. But this Cloud had listened and nearly been swayed. And this Cloud had left his family to live alone, had abandoned Tifa …

 

The phone in his jacket pocket vibrated. Rude retrieved it and checked the incoming number. A hospital in Edge where some of their people worked. He flipped it open to answer it.

 

"Yeah?"

 

"Rude? This is Morgan. Is the President available?"

 

"Hold on." Rude handed the phone to Rufus who was still preoccupied with the view out his window. "Sir, Morgan from the hospital for you."

 

After Rufus had taken the call, Rude wandered back to Reno who had finally recovered enough to stand without danger of toppling.

 

"The hospital, huh?" he said. "How come the sane people call you and I get all the weirdoes?"

 

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

 

He scratched the back of his head absently. "I guess not." With a dramatic sigh, he dropped onto the couch to wait for their next set of directions.

 

Rude remained standing. His thoughts turned to the conversation that had recently occurred. Rufus had blatantly lied to Cloud about Jenova, and that worried him. True, informing a volatile man with a big sword that Jenova was in a box in a sick man's lap was not the brightest of ideas. But denying its existence didn't seem right either. Cloud was bound to find out Rufus had lied to him, either from that crackpot Kadaj or from someone else, and their already strained relationship would worsen. It wouldn't be such a problem if the President hadn't essentially declared he was counting on Cloud to fix this new mess. But with so much riding on the moody blond … well, it made him uneasy.

 

Rufus finished up his call and motioned for Rude to come get his phone. When he had, the President said calmly, "They've found Tseng and Elena."

 

Reno leapt out of his seat, his face alive with a mixture of hope and fear. "Are they okay? Who found them? Where are they?"

 

"Calm down, Reno." Rude moved to his side and laid a steadying hand on his shoulder.

 

Once Reno seemed to be breathing normally again, Rufus continued, "They're at Icicle Inn. Someone dumped them there; no one knows who. They're unconscious but alive. Morgan is having them airlifted to Edge so he can tend to them. They should be at the hospital in under an hour."

 

Rude allowed the relief rippling through him to bubble up into a gentle smile. Underneath his hand, Reno's tense shoulder muscles relaxed. Good. Now we can both carry on without the worry holding us down.

 

"Are we going to go see them, sir?" Reno asked, hopefully. Rude let himself hope a little, too, even though he knew what the answer would be.

 

"Not yet," Rufus replied, his voice suddenly business-like and sharp. "I want you two to find and follow Cloud. He's going to need some serious encouragement to face Kadaj. Give it to him. Make him want to fight. When that's done, you can meet me at the hospital."

 

Reno's face clearly showed what he thought of these orders, but before he could open his mouth to say something that would get him killed, Rude had moved his hand to his partner's elbow, pivoted his body to face the door, and pushed. "Got it, sir," Rude replied, continuing to force Reno out of the room.

 

"Cut it out, man," Reno grumbled to him. "I'm going already." He reached out, turned the handle, and opened the door.

 

A sick sound of flesh forcefully connecting, and Reno lurched sideways, falling to the floor.

 

"Reno!'

 

The young man outside who had punched Reno in the face raised his eyes to Rude and smiled, a self-satisfied smirk. Rude's mind took in the stranger's shoulder-length silver hair, his black clothes, and his gripping, dangerous green eyes, and it made the connection. Kadaj. And now that he had seen him, the demands for "Mother" made much more sense, and the consequences for failing to hide "her" from him seemed much more terrible.

 

All these things Rude's mind pondered. Rude's body, however, had no use for such worthless philosophizing and had taken immediate action. A flick of the wrist had released his EMR, and the next second found it arcing towards Kadaj's head. But with a speed and strength that seemed impossible, Kadaj met Rude's arm with his right hand and pushed it sideways across his body, leaving his side undefended. The pain of Kadaj's fist impacting with his kidney caused Rude's knees to buckle slightly, and Kadaj took advantage of the momentary weakness by sweeping Rude's feet out from under him with a quick kick. Rude managed to roll when he hit the ground, keeping his head and neck protected from a follow-up blow.

 

Behind Kadaj, Reno had risen to his feet again, and, as Rude paused to regain his bearings, he heard the slaps and thuds of their fists and feet meeting. Rude lifted his head, ready to rejoin the battle and make it two on one, but before he could stand, Kadaj sent a roundhouse kick crashing against Reno's head. Reno flew sideways, bounced against the wall with a sickly cracking noise, and landed on the ground. He rolled onto his back and lay still.

 

Kadaj, still smiling, turned to face Rude. Rude charged him. His fists flew, aiming for the young man's stomach, ribs, and jawline. But every time a punch tried to connect, it met a halting hand or only air, and in the spaces between, Kadaj's fists found their marks, slowly clouding Rude's senses with a gradual build-up of pain.

 

Finally, Kadaj seemed to tire of the game, for he sent a heavy punch straight into Rude's stomach, and, as Rude's head came instinctively down, Kadaj's foot swung around to meet it. Rude staggered until a final blow to his neck sent him to his knees.

 

Rude planted a hand on the floor, trying desperately to stay upright.

 

I must … protect … the President.

 

The room was spinning, turning upside-down and sideways at the same time.

 

Must … protect …

 

He fell headlong into the blackness.